The Arch of Augustus (in French ''Arc d'Auguste'') is a monument in the city of

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...

, northern Italy. It was erected in 25 BC on the occasion of the Roman victory over the

Salassi The Salassi or Salasses were a Gallic or Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the Dora Baltea river, near present-day Aosta (Val d'Aosta), during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''dià Salassō̃n'' (δ� ...

and was the work of

Aulus Terentius Varro Murena Aulus Terentius Varro Murena (died 24 BC) was a Roman general and politician of the 1st century BC. Biography Murena was the natural born son of Aulus Terentius Varro, and adopted brother to Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. He was well connected t ...

. It is located at the end of the ''

decumanus maximus In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of a particular city was the Decumanus Maximus, or most often simply "the Decumanus". In the rectangular street g ...

'', a little distance from the ''Bourg Saint-Ours'' (quarter of the Collegiate Church of Saint Ursus) and from the eastern entrance of the city wall (the Porta Prætoria).

Description

Constructed from conglomerate, the arch has a single vault, with a height to the keystone of . Its span is a barrel vault, constituting an extension in width of a round arch. In the monument, various styles can be recognised: The ten engaged columns which decorate its facade and its sides culminate in

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

capitals, while the entablature, adorned with

metope In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a bu ...

s and

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s, is of the

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

. In the

Medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, it came to be called the Saint-Voût (French for "Holy Arch") from an image of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

which was located in the same place. During the 12th century, the arch contained the home of a local noble family and in 1318 a small fortification was built inside it, designed for a corps of

crossbowmen An arbalist, also spelled arbelist, is one who shoots a crossbow. Background An extensive list of archaic words for medieval crossbowmen is given by Payne-Gallwey. Richardson, in his 1839 dictionary, did not make specific reference to the cross ...

. In 1716, because of the numerous leaks that were compromising the integrity of the monument, the attic that previously crowned the arch was replaced with a slate roof. The arch's modern appearance is the result of a final intervention for restoration and consolidation which occurred in 1912 under the direction of

Ernesto Schiaparelli Ernesto Schiaparelli (; July 12, 1856 – February 14, 1928) was an Italian Egyptologist. Biography He was born in Occhieppo Inferiore (Biella). He found Queen Nefertari's tomb in Deir el-Medina in the Valley of the Queens (1904) and ...

.P. Barocelli, "L'arco di Augusto ad Aosta: I restauri del 1912-1913", ''Rivista di Studi Liguri'' XLI-XLII (1975-1976) p. 283 The wooden crucifix displayed below the vault is a copy of the one which was placed there in 1449 as a votive offering against the flooding of the river

Buthier The Buthier is a mountain torrent in north-west Italy. A left bank tributary of the Dora Baltea, its entire course lies within the Valpelline, a valley in the region of Aosta Valley. Course One branch of the river is formed by the Tsa de Tsa ...

, which flows a little to the east. The original crucifix is now housed in the Museum of Aosta Cathedral's Treasures.

Quotation

References

External links

*
The Arch of Augustus on the website of the Autonomous Region Aosta Valley
{{Authority control Ancient Roman triumphal arches in Italy Buildings and structures in Aosta Augustus

Description

Quotation

See also

References

External links