The Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso

The Romanesque cloister and the Fair of Sant'Orso

Just outside the Roman walls of Aosta, in the district that grew up around it in the Middle Ages, stands the Collegiata di Sant'Orso, one of the most important religious complexes of the Alps, dedicated to Saint Ursus, a priest of the early Middle Ages, much loved by the people of the valley, who according to tradition distributed wooden clogs to the poor. The church, rebuilt in Gothic style in the fifteenth century by the prior Giorgio di Challant, with a beautiful façade and a tall Romanesque bell tower, preserves under its roof one of the treasures of the valley: a cycle of Ottonian frescoes of the eleventh century, with stories of Christ and the apostles, rediscovered in the attic and visible from walkways, among the oldest of their kind in Europe.

The jewel of the complex is the Romanesque cloister, of about 1132, small and harmonious, whose arcades rest on slender columns crowned by about forty capitals carved with extraordinary skill, with scenes from the Bible, the life of Saint Ursus, fantastic animals and plant motifs, one of the masterpieces of Romanesque sculpture in the Alps. In front of the church, the Priory of Sant'Orso, with its octagonal tower, is a fine example of Renaissance architecture. Every year on 30 and 31 January, the city hosts the Fiera di Sant'Orso, a craft fair over a thousand years old, which according to tradition began with the saint's gifts, where hundreds of artisans exhibit and sell their works in wood, carved and turned, wrought iron, wool and lace, among stalls, mulled wine and music.

Tip: come at the end of January for the Fiera di Sant'Orso; book the visit to the Ottonian frescoes.

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