Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Aosta

Teatro Romano (Roman Theatre) was built in the late reign of Roman emperor Augustus, some decades after the foundation of the city (25 BC). It was extended two centuries later. The theatre occupies three blocks annexed to the ancient city walls, along the Roman main road structure occupied an area of 81 by 64 meters. One can still identify its semi-circular tiers, the orchestra pit, and the stage wall, which was once raised with decorated columns, marble and statues. The theatre could hold as many as 4.000 spectators. Today the southern façade - perforated by arches and windows - still remains. The wall has a height of 22 meters. The cavea was enclosed in a rectangular-shaped wall including the remaining southern part. This was reinforced by buttresses each 5.5 metres from the other, and included by four orders of arcades which lightened its structure. In the Middle Ages, the original function of the theater was forgotten and different constructions began to grow around it. Their demolition was proposed in 1863 , but the process finally completed between 1933 and 1941.

The Collegiata di Sant'Orso (Collegiate church of Saint Ursus) is dedicated to Saint Ursus of Aosta. The original church - dating back to the 5th century - had a single hall. It was entirely rebuilt in the 11th century, during the Carolingian age. Later the church was further renovated into a basilica plan with three naves with wooden trusses. These were replaced by Gothic cross vaults in the 15th century. The church has a quite simple interior with 11th century Ottonial frescoes and a wooden choir. It is also home to numerous missals and reliquaries, including the relics of Saint Ursus, which rest in the crypt. The Romanesque cloister (PiP3) is another religious building in the Saint Ursus complex. Its construction dates back to the 12th century. The cloister has historiated capitals (PiP4), decorated with fantastic beasts, biblical events and scenes from the life of Saint Ursus himself. 37 of the 42 original capital remains: they were originally in white marble, though now they mostly appear in dark gray color after being washed with ash paint. Opposite the entrance of the collegiate church stands the imposing bell tower (PiP5), 46 meters tall. Originally it was a defense tower dating back to the end of the 10th century. The present structure, in Romanesque style, dates to the 12th century

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e San Giovanni Battista (Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary and Saint John the Baptist) is the most important and oldest religious building in Aosta. The church was founded at the end of the 4th century, when a Roman complex was converted into a Christian place of worship. At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, a series of works on the body of the building gave it the appearance it still has today, such as the Renaissance-style façade built between 1522 and 1526, decorated with frescoes and terracotta sculptures. The ïmpressive original structure of the cathedral was modified in the 11th century. The cathedral is rich in art and religious treasures: a precious cycle of 11th-century frescoes that decorate the vault was discovered in 1979, while the interior of the cathedral houses, among other things, a wooden crucifix from 1397, valuable artistic stained glass windows made between 1400 and 1500. The high choir, dominated by a crucifix of the fourteenth century, has thirty wooden stalls dating from 1469. The building dominates the city thanks to its two bell towers, which with 60 meters in height are the tallest buildings in the entire Aosta Valley.

The Arco di Augusto (Arch of Augustus) was erected in 25 BC on the occasion of the victory of Rome over the Gallic tribe, calles the Salassi and founding the new colony. The arch has a single vault, with a height to the keystone of 11,4 meters. Its span is a barrel vault, constituting an extension in width of a round arch, measuring 8,3 meters. The monument, which changed during centuries, consists of a single round arch framed by half-columns and surmounted by Corinthian capitals and crowned by a Doric trabeation. The arch's modern appearance is the result of a final intervention for restoration and consolidation which occurred in 1912. The wooden crucifix displayed below the vault is a copy of the one which was placed there in 1449 as a votive offering against the flooding of the river Buthier, which flows a little to the east. Emperor Augustus name adorns not just the arch, but also the region itself: "Aosta" is a derivative of Augustus.

Aosta is the capital of the Aosta Valley, located at the confluence of the rivers Buthier and Dora Baltea. It was a stronghold of the Salassi, a Celtic tribe that was subdued by the Romans in 25 BC. Augusta Praetoria - a Roman town - was founded there by Emperor Augustus. Aosta was always the most important centre of the Valle d’Aosta and became the regional capital in 1945. Aosta retains the walls, two gates, and the street plan of its Roman predecessor, as well as a triumphal arch in honour of Augustus and remains of the theatre and the amphitheatre. The rectangular street plan, laid out in equal blocks, is an outstanding example of Roman formal city planning. Of later monuments, the cathedral is notable for its treasury and 12th-century floor mosaics, and the collegiate church of S. Orso for its Romanesque cloisters and Gothic choir stalls.