Tom`s travels: Asti (27/12/2015)

After staying for Christmas at my relative's house in Alessandria in Piedmont, we decided to visit the nearby town of Asti, since the weather looked beautiful. So we left in the morning and on the highway it only took us 20 minutes to reach it. We parked the car right outside the city center and started our visit with the Church of San Pietro in Consavia. The church complex built in the 12th century consists of a small church, a 13th century cloister and a beautiful heptagonal Baptistery. The Baptistery also called Rotunda had some beautiful Romanesque columns and a really nice baptismal font at its center. The whole complex was really nice, though we didn't manage to get to see the archaeological museum on the second floor since it was closed that day. From there we walked on towards the city center, passing by the Troyana Tower; a really nice 12-13th century tower 44m high wonderfully decorated, though also closed. We then reached the beautiful Piazza Cattedrale with the view of the side of the immense Cathedral. The church built in the Gothic style with a tall squared bell tower and the nice southern door decorated in the 15th century. The inside nicely decorated in the 17th and 18th century Baroque style had some impressive pillars and a really interesting 12th century mosaic below the main altar. We then walked on and reached the far western part of the city, where the impressive so called Red Tower, which served as one of the towers of the roman walls, now serves as the bell tower of the church of Santa Caterina. From there we turned around back towards the city center and passing by the De Regibus tower, another of the many that dotted the city of Asti, we reached the crypt of Sant'Anastasio. Now an interesting museum, which contains several artifacts dating from the roman and medieval eras found throughout the city. The crypt dating from the 11th century has some wonderfully decorated columns and sits at the exact location where it once stood, right under the church of Sant'Anastasio which was demolished in 1907. The woman that guided us throughout the small museum was really kind and informative and answered all our questions. After the visit we walked on passing yet another tower, the Comentina tower and reached the second largest and second most important church in town: the Collegiata San Secondo. Built in the 13th century in the Gothic style it had a nice interior with some medieval frescoes still remaining and a nice chapel showcasing the flags of all the participants to the Palio of Asti. It was nearly time to go, so right before leaving we had a quick yet really tasty lunch with wonderful agnolotti pasta with cheese, delicious!