A stroll through the “ventine” – from Asti to Montemarzo

We can suggest an initial route along the right bank of the Tanaro, leaving Corso Savona to immediately reach San Marzanotto, an extraordinary balcony over the surrounding hills, all arranged around the parish Church, which preserves its typical circular medieval structure. 

It is amazing how, just a few kilometres from the city, you can find a place so far from the hustle and bustle: green, quiet, a classic country place, full of narrow lanes and scenic roads that plunge into the thousand hills of the south of the Asti region. 

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Asti: the city of Merchants

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Asti, among the fortified houses of San Martino

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And if on the side overlooking the Tanaro river, the woods and rocks well represent the wildest nature, on the southern ridges you can see the order and cleanliness of the vines: rows of vines as far as the eye can see, dotted with manor farms.

Not far from the village, on the way to Alba, stands the Castle of Belangero (but you can reach it by going up the road to Mongardino), a very old building (it was a fief of the Asinari family). The hillock is enchanting, adorned by a centuries-old park, a beautiful farmstead and a small chapel. Because of its position, San Marzanotto has long been chosen as a " buen retiro" (retreat) for many Asti residents, and there are many beautiful villas dating back to the beginning of the 20th that bear witness to this tradition; among these, Villa Badoglio stands out just outside the old town, where Pietro Badoglio, the first Marshal of Italy, a native of Grazzano, loved to stay.

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A stroll through the “ventine” – from Asti to Viatosto

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A stroll through the “ventine”: from Asti to Mombarone

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We leave the villa to descend again onto the Tanaro and, once past the village of Torrazzo (with its early 20th century proto-industrial architecture and its large brick factories), we pass by the river towards Azzano and finally reach the valley of Montemarzo (turn right at the level crossing). The village, which is perched on the hill but arranged in triangle shape along the ridge, preserves evident signs of past fortifications in the first houses and overlooks a particularly airy valley. Another must-see is also the beautiful Baroque parish Church.