| The city is situated 583 m. above sea level on hollow ground near the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea at the foot of Mount Emilius (3559 m.). Founded by the Romans in 25 B.C. on a previous Salasso tribal settlement, Augusta Praetoria passed later into the hands of the Ostrogoths, Lombards and Burgunds, then the Franks in 774, and under the Transgiuran Bourgogne in 904. In 1025 Aosta became property of Umberto Biancamano (founder of the Savoia family). |
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Monuments: Remarkable monuments remain from the Roman period: the rectangular town walls, the Porta Praetoria, the amphitheater, theater and Arco di Augusto. Medieval remains are the Lebbroso and Bramafam towers, as well as the Collegiate church of Sant'Orso with cloister and treasures and the cathedral (XI century). |