History & Heritage
Piazza Émile Chanoux & the old town
Aosta · Aosta Valley
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- History & Heritage
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Aosta · Aosta Valley
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Every alpine capital has one square that is its living room, and Aosta’s is arcaded, fountain-centred and café-ringed. Piazza Émile Chanoux gathers the town hall, the tourist office and the newspaper kiosks under its porticoes; on Tuesday mornings the weekly market spills across it and down the neighbouring streets with food, clothes and crafts. From here the old town’s medieval lanes — Via Sant’Anselmo, the via di Porta Praetoria — run between vaulted porticoes toward the Roman gate.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
It is where Roman town planning and alpine daily life meet — the best single people-watching square in the Aosta Valley.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Piazza Émile Chanoux & the old town
Piazza Émile Chanoux & the old town, Aosta, Aosta Valley, Italy
45.7377, 7.3182
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Aosta
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Da Nando — sixty-year family trattoria by Sant’Orso: Valdostana fondue, friendship coffee in the grolla
L’Osteria dell’Oca — three floors of Valdostan classics, snails and carbonada with polenta
Le Bar à Vin — fontina fondue in a cocotte and mountain charcuterie near Porta Pretoria
Trattoria Praetoria — the centenarian classic: venison ragu, gluten-free Valdostan dishes
Pila mountain huts (Yeti, Gran Baita) — polenta concia at 1,800 m with the 4,000ers on the skyline
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
The pedestrian-centre hotels around Piazza Chanoux — Roman ruins at the doorstep
Camping International Touring (Sarre) and Lazy Bee (Quart) — riverside pitches minutes from the centre
Mountain hotels and huts at Pila — ski-in, hike-out above the city
Agriturismi and B&Bs in the side valleys — Cogne, Valgrisenche, the Great St Bernard road
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
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INTERESTS
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PART OF
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