Asti has been a very important and old town for hundred of years and this thanks to its propitious geographic position which sets the town at the centre of the wide valley of the Tanaro River.
Asti was founded by the Ligurians on a high ground and it took the name of Ast (‘Ast’ in the Ligurian language means ‘hill or high ground’); after the Roman conquest it took the name of ‘Hasta’ which means ‘spear’. In 89 B.C. Hasta became a Roman colony and in 49 B.C. it became a Roman Municipium with the name of Hasta Pompeia thus becoming a part of the ‘9th Regio’ of the Roman Empire. The Roman Hasta Pompeia is mentioned by Plinio among the most important Roman colonies of the old Liguria Region.
During the Longobard period Asti was chosen as the seat of one of the 36 Dukedoms in which the Longobard empire was divided. This important position was maintained also when the territory became part of the Frank dominions transforming itself into County. Afterwards Asti was controlled by the Bishop’s authority and the town rose in importance towards the end of the 9th century becoming in a brief period an important municipality of Piemonte.
In 1095 with the birth of the free municipality of Asti, a new ‘era’ began for the town and without any doubt it is the most interesting and glorious period for the town. Throughout this period and until the 13th century, Asti was the most powerful and important centre of Piemonte and among the most prestigious centres of Italy and Europe thanks to the flourishing of economic activities and to the initiative of its bankers who moved and administered businesses in all Europe. In 1140 the emperor Corrado the Third gave Asti the privilege of minting coin.
The hard fightings between Guelphs and Ghibellines weakened the town, bringing the Municipality to a decay. In 1313 the Municipality of Asti ceased its existence due to the Guelph family Solaro who took the town to submit itself to the King Roberto d’Angiò. Afterwards the town became the dominion of the Visconti (1342), then of the Marquis of Monferrato (1356), and again of the Visconti family; after it was made the dowry of Valentina, daughter of Giangaleazzo Visconti, who married a member of the Orléans family (1387); in the end it became part of the reign of the Savoy family (1575).
In the 17th and the 18th century, during the Wars of Successions for the possession of the Monferrato, Asti was invaded and occupied by French and Spanish troops. During the Napoleonic occupation, Asti, which was chief town of the Tanaro Department, was degraded and united to Alessandria and the Department of Marengo.
With the fall of Napoleon, Asti returned to the Savoy reign in 1814. After the Unity of Italy, Asti followed the history of the new-born country. Asti depended on Alessandria until the middle of the 20th century, when in 1935 it became Chief Town of Province, thus regaining its primary role.
Asti, the town with a hundred towers, still preserves a pleasant medieval atmosphere. In its historic centre there is an artistic patrimony of rare beauty; it is rich in churches and monuments, towers and strong-holds with famous names, famous houses and arcades, wide squares where architectures of old quarters, libraries and museums interlace.
As a proof of the noble and prestigious past of the town it is worthy to remember some of its most famous monuments (nowadays still visible and visitable) which date back to the most flourishing period of the history of the town. The most important Roman witness of Asti is the Red Tower, dating back to the 1st century A.D.; another famous monument, which belongs to the Romanesque period, is the Baptistery of Saint Peter (12th century A.D.), also known as the Rotonda, which is one of the oldest religious monuments of the town; we have then the solemn Gothic Cathedral (1309-1354), the biggest church in Piemonte and the most important Gothic monument of the region and among the most important in Northern Italy. Near the apse you may admire the mighty Romanesque bell-tower, belonging to the previous cathedral (1266). Worthy of note is then the Collegiate Church of Saint Secondo, one of the most important Romanesque-Gothic church of Piemonte. In Asti there are still about ten Medieval towers (in 1682 you could still see 125 of them!), among these there is the Comentina Tower, which with its height of 38 meters is the highest of all Piemonte; however the most famous tower is the Troyana Tower also known as the Clock Tower, which with its roof joins an height of 44 meters.
The town is also rich of 14th century buildings, such as the houses of some historic families (Asinari, Pelletta, Catena, Montafia, Zoya, etc.); other buildings worthy of note are the 16th century houses of the Malabayla, Falletti and Mazzola families. These buildings though carry clear signs of the Renaissance period.
Palazzo Mazzetti, which is the seat of the Pinacoteca Civica (the Public Picture-gallery), was rebuilt in the 18th century. Palazzo Alfieri, now the seat of the Public Library, was rebuilt by the royal architect Benedetto Alfieri in 1749 substituting a building belonging to the 13th century. Upon a hill in the north of the town and in a panoramic position, there is the beautiful church of the Madonna di Viatosto, Romanesque-Gothic building built in the 14th century. As concerns famous persons, the most important citizen of Asti is the poet, writer and dramatist Vittorio Alfieri (1749 – 1803); even though many other people would be worthy of mention, famous in various fields (cultural, religious, musical, political).