Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
From the train station on Piazza Roma, trains link Bra with Turin (€3.95, 45 minutes), via
Carmagnola, while buses connect Bra with Pollenzo (€1, 15 minutes, Monday to Saturday
morning).
Asti
POP 75,910 / ELEV 123M
Just 30km apart, Asti and Alba were fierce rivals in medieval times when they faced off
against each other as feisty, independent strongholds ruled over by feuding royal families.
These days the two towns are united by viticulture rather than divided by factionalism.
Asti - by far the bigger town - produces the sparkling white Asti Spumante wine made
from white muscat grapes, while Alba concocts Barolo and Barbaresco.
Sights & Activities
Asti's largely pedestrianised centre is attractive, though less intimate than Alba's.
Torre Troyana o Dell'Orologio
(Piazza Medici; admission free; 10am-1pm & 4-7pm Apr-Sep, 10am-1pm & 3-6pm Sat & Sun Oct)
During the late 13th century the region became one of Italy's wealthiest, with
150-odd towers springing up in Asti alone. Of the 12 that remain, only this one can be
climbed. Troyana is a 38m-tall tower that dates from the 12th century. The clock was ad-
ded in 1420.
LANDMARK
Cattedrale di Santa
CATHEDRAL
Maria Assunta
(Piazza Cattedrale)
Rising above Asti's historic core is the enormous belfry of this 13th-cen-
tury Romanesque-Gothic cathedral. Its grandly painted interior merits a peek.
Palazzo Mazzetti
(
www.palazzomazzetti.it
;
Corso Alfieri 357; 10.30am-6.30pm Tue-Sun)
This 18th-century
residence of the Mazzetti family houses the civic museum and an information office.
Downstairs you'll find Roman artefacts and a scale model of the city. Upstairs there are
Italian paintings from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
MUSEUM
