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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Asti
Asti
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Asti is a city and municipality in the Piemonte or Piedmont region, in north-western Italy, about 80 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti. In 89 BC the city received the status of colonia, and in 49 BC that of municipium. Asti is an important city of the Augustan Regio IX, favoured by its strategic position on the Tanaro River and on the Via Fulvia, which linked Derthona to Augusta Taurinorum. Other roads connected the city to the main passes for what are today Switzerland and France.
Asti was one of the first free communes of Italy, and in 1140 it also received the right to mint coins of its own by Conrad II. As the commune, however, had begun to erode the lands of the bishop and other local faudataries, the latter sued for help to Frederick Barbarossa, who presented under the city walls with a huge army in the February of 1155. After a short siege, Asti was stormed and burnt.
Asti was one of the main Savoy strongholds in the following wars. In 1616, overwhelmed by the Spanish governor of Milan, it was defended by Duke Charles Emmanuel I himself. In 1630-31 the city suffered heavy losses for a plague, and some years later was conquered by the Spanish, although Savoy regained it in 1643. Asti is also famous for its Festival Delle Sagre, held in September a week before the Palio. During the festival most of the towns in Asti's province meet in a great square called Campo del Palio, where they offer typical food and wine for which they are known.
A city known for its historic myths and traditions, scenic beauty, cooperative people and luxurious hotels and cottages, Asti is one of the favorite holiday destinations for most of the vacation lovers.
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