Aosta is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, 110 km north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes. Aosta was settled in proto-historic times and became a centre of the Salassi, many of whom were killed or sold into slavery by the Romans in 25 BC; the campaign was led by Terentius Varro, who founded the Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum, housing 3,000 retired veterans. After 11 BC Aosta became the capital of the Alpes Graies province of the Empire, its position at the confluence of two rivers, at the end of the Great and the Little St Bernard Pass, gave it considerable military importance, its layout was that of a Roman military camp. After the fall of the Western Empire, the city was conquered, in turn, by the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines; the Lombards, who had annexed it to their Italian kingdom, were expelled by the Frankish Empire under Pepin the Short.

Under his son, Aosta acquired importance as a post on the Via Francigena, leading from Aachen to Italy. After 888 AD it was part of the renewed Kingdom of Italy under Arduin of Ivrea and Berengar of Friuli. In the 10th century Aosta became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy. After the fall of the latter in 1032, it became part of the lands of Count Humbert I of Savoy; the privilege of holding the assembly of the states-general was granted to the inhabitants in 1189. An executive council was nominated from this body in 1536, continued to exist until 1802. After the Congress of Vienna restored the rule of Savoy it was reconstituted and formally recognized by Charles Albert of Sardinia, at the birth of his grandson Prince Amedeo, created duke of Aosta. Aosta has either a subtropical highland climate, it is considered temperate continental in the Trewartha climate classification. Saint-Martin-de-Corléans Megalithic Area with artifacts and tombs dating to the Neolithic era; the ancient town walls of Augusta Prætoria Salassorum are still preserved in their entirety, enclosing a rectangle 724 by 572 metres.

They are 6.4 metres high. At the bottom, the walls are nearly 2.75 metres thick, at the top 1.83 metres. Towers stand at angles to the enceinte and others are positioned at intervals, with two at each of the four gates, making twenty towers in total, they are 6.5 metres square, project 4.3 metres from the wall. Of the 20 original towers, the following are well preserved: Tour du lépreux, was given this name after a leper called Pierre-Bernard Guasco was jailed there in the late 17th century. Le lépreux de la cité d'Aoste, a novel by Xavier de Maistre, is named after this leper. Tourneuve. Tour du Pailleron. Tower of Bramafan, built in the 11th century over a Roman bastion, it was the residence of the Savoy viscounts. In Franco-Provençal, Bramé la fan means "To scream for hunger". Tour du Baillage. Tour Fromage; the east and south gates exist intact. The latter, a double gate with three arches flanked by two towers known as the Porta Praetoria was the eastern gate to the city, has preserved its original forms apart from the marble covering.

It is formed by two series of arches enclosing a small square. The rectangular arrangement of the streets is modeled on a Roman plan dividing the town into 64 blocks; the main road, about 10 metres wide, divides the city into two equal halves, running from east to west. This arrangement makes it clear; the Roman theatre, of which the southern façade remains today, is 22 metres tall. The structure, dating from the late reign of Augustus, occupied an area of 81 by 64 metres. In the nearby was the amphitheatre, built under Claudius. A marketplace surrounded by storehouses on three sides with a temple in the centre with two on the open side, as well as a thermae, have been discovered. Outside the town walls is the Arch of Augustus, a triumphal arch in honour of Augustus, built in 35 BC to celebrate the victory of consul Varro Murena over the Salassi. About 8 kilometres to the west is a single-arched Roman bridge, called the Pont d'Aël, it has a closed passage, lighted by windows for foot passengers in winter, above it an open footpath.

There are considerable remains of the ancient road from Eporedia to Augusta Praetoria into the Aosta Valley. The modern railway follows this route, notable for the Pont Saint-Martin, which has a single arch with a span of 35 metres and a roadway 4.5 metres wide. The Cathedral, built in the 4th century and replaced in the 11th century by a new edifice dedicate to the Madonna, it is annexed to the Roman Forum. The Romanesque-Gothic Sant'Orso, its most evocative feature is the cloister, which can be entered through a hall on the left of the façade. It is dedicated to Ursus of Aosta; the Saint-Bénin College, built about 1000 by the Benedictines. It is now an exhibition site; the Bridge of Grand Arvou, a medieval arch bridge-aqueduct, is l

Aragosta a colazione is a 1979 Italian comedy film directed by Giorgio Capitani. For his performance in this film and in Il ladrone, Enrico Montesano was awarded with a Special David di Donatello. Enrico Montesano as Enrico Tucci Claude Brasseur as Mario Spinosi Janet Agren as Monique Claudine Auger as Carla Spinosi Silvia Dionisio as Matilde Tucci Adriana Innocenti as Miss Duchamp Renato Mori as Accountant Trocchia Roberto Della Casa as Sommelier List of Italian films of 1979 Lobster for Breakfast on IMDb

Brodnica Castle - a well fortificated castle in Brodnica. The castle is built in a square formation; the four wings of the castle surrounded the central courtyard. A 54-metre tower provided an entrance to the second floor of the castle. In the corners of the castle were small look-out towers, which stick out from the castle's square shape; the castle basements were used as utility rooms. The underground rooms performed various functions: a chapel, chapter house, chamber of the commander and other specialised rooms. Entries to them lead to the gallery surrounding the courtyard; the second floor included from the side of the courtyard magazines and a granary, an additional defensive porch within castle walls. By the main tower there is a gate, it was a key part of the castle's defense complex. The pre-castle fortification was placed between the castle; the building of the Teutonic castle in Brodnica began in the fourteenth century, taking a whole century to complete. In 1466, the castle complex became part of the Kingdom of Poland.

After a fire in 1550, the rebuilding of the castle was done so by the Starosta Rafał Działyński. During the Swedish-Polish Wars the castle began to turn into ruins. In 1785, King Frederick II of Prussia ordered do dismantle the ruins, but his orders were soon stopped by Frederick Wilhelm IV; the fate of the palace of Anna Wazówna was sealed by a fire in 1945. The palace was restored in the 1960s; the castle houses a museum, the palace a library. Castles in Poland