Route of the towers
Wandering from Tower to Tower
What better way to visit Asti than by wandering from tower to tower? We propose an itinerary that will take you through the streets of Asti in search of the marvelous towers that distinguish it. Between one tower and another, let yourself be inspired by any church, museum or monument that may attract your interest.
Asti was once known as the city of a hundred towers. At the end of the seventeenth century, there were 125 of them. Today only a dozen remain, all cut off with the exception of Troyana Tower (Torre Troyana) and Cometina Tower (Torre Comentina).
The massive presence of this type of construction in Asti is due to the presence of a nobility and bourgeoisie who in medieval times used the architectural module of the tower, present in the countryside with a defensive function, strengthening it and adapting it to an expression of personal power and prestige, as a symbol of self-affirmation of the family. This is the case of Troya, Solaro, Roero, Pelletta, Re (or De Regibus), Natta and Guttuari, to name a few.
These Asti families built their own towers and palaces with a celebratory intent as a symbol of the family’s wealth and prestige of the city, at the time rich in bankers and an important commercial center.
The struggles and civil wars that saw the Guelph and Ghibelline families face each other, and which took place between the squares of the city, led to the destruction and lowering of almost all of the towers. However, even today, it is possible to breathe its history through those that have remained.
Route details
Explore the stage
I stop
Ponte Lombriasco Tower and Roero’s Fortified House
It starts from Ponte di Lombriasco Tower, in via S. Martino, inserted in the baroque Palazzo Gazelli and visible from Corso Alfieri while, next to it, at the corner with via San Martino, you can admire the Fortified House of Roero di Cortanze. We continue on foot to the Tower of the Fortified House of Roero di Monteu, an imposing eighteenth-century strong house, whose tower is believed to be one of the highest.
II stop
Red Tower
The second stage takes us to reach the Red Tower, which has the Church of Saint Catherine behind it and overlooks Corso Alfieri, the main street of Asti, full of palaces, museums, bars and shops. Walking along it towards the third stop, we find Palazzo Mazzetti, where you can buy the Smarticket to access six city museums and Troyana Tower.
III stop
De Regibus and Quartero Towera
We reach De Regibus and Quartero Towers, located on the corner between Corso Alfieri and via Roero. The two towers, which belonged to the family of the Kings (Re or De Regibus), together with a third tower now destroyed, formed the corner of the “Three Kings”.
IV stop
Solaro and Natta Towers
We take Via Giobert and head towards Solaro Tower, at the corner of Via Carducci, in the Cattedrale district, and passing through Piazza Cattedrale, which houses the majestic Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption and Saint Gotthard, we reach Natta Tower, in the homonymous street.
V stop
Troyana Tower
Continuing towards Piazza Catena, we approach Troyana Tower, also called Clock Tower: One of the symbols of Asti, the highest tower, as well as the only one on which it is possible to climb to enjoy a splendid view of the city, from the top of the its 44 meters (and 199 steps).
The tower overlooks Piazza Medici, in front of the Aqueduct fountain, in Art Nouveau style, from 1908.
VI stop
Comentina Tower
We go back from Via Giosuè Carducci to reach Palazzo Bunej, which originally had two towers, one destroyed and one later lowered, and the nearby Palazzo Strata with its tower shape, to continue on Corso Alfieri until reaching Piazza Roma, overlooked by the spectacular Comentina Tower.
VII stop
Torre Guttuari
The last stage of the path dedicated to the towers takes us back to Piazza San Secondo, to reach Piazza Statuto and admire Guttuari Tower.
