Christmas Markets in Asti

Asti's origins stretch back to Roman times, when it was established as Hasta, a strategically positioned settlement in the Po Valley. Through the medieval period, the city flourished as an independent commune and significant banking and trading hub, its prosperity reflected in the tall stone towers that still punctuate the skyline. The city is the birthplace of playwright Vittorio Alfieri, one of Italy's most celebrated literary figures, honored in the central piazza bearing his name. Asti is perhaps best known internationally for the Palio di Asti, one of Italy's oldest horse races, documented since the thirteenth century and remaining a defining expression of civic pride and medieval pageantry.