Aosta

[Kees Heiden]

We (my family) made a trip to the Aosta valley this summer and I thought some of you would enjoy a few pictures of the wonderfull little town of Aosta. This is an old Roman town, but allready inhabited way before Roman times. There are still some Roman leftovers like this facade of the theatre.

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But I was particularly enamoured by a small church/monastery Sant'Orso. It goes back to the very early middle ages but the Church main building was rebuild in Gothic style in the 15th century. The Belltower is still Romanesque (the style period before Gothic, which intrueges me a lot because of its often very naief style).

Belltower

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The interior with the typical Gothic rib vault.

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Some very nice woodcarving in the choir.

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And those misericords, small wood carvings under the seats, which are often pretty funny.

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[Kees Heiden]

Another Misericord.

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Particularly nice was the Monastery yard. It has a gallery all around the yard with colums, and the capitals on these collums are depicting the life of Sant'Orso. Full of angels and devils but also details from daily life. I think these are all typical Romanesque, at least i enjoyed walking around here a lot.

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Of course we also roamed around the mountains a lot. Camping, hiking, rock climbing. Here is my daughter tackling a fun little roof problem.

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[David Eisenhauer]

Thanks Kees. I like that kind of stuff and tend to spend my urban travel time in a similar fashion.

[Jim Koepke]

Interesting structures and carvings, thanks for sharing.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

Thanks for the great pictures and travelogue, Kees. Beautiful work there.

Your daughter is one heck of a climber. As I look at the picture, with her horizontal, I don't know what's keeping her up; she must have Spiderperson skills...unless maybe your picture accidentally posted sideways...

[John C Cox]

Hint... Loose ropes on your belt don't hang out sideways... They always hang down. ;) ;).

I had a laugh at the 2nd misericord thinking about my kids fighting over the wife's smart phone down under the pew at church Sunday.... Yep... The carver had kids. And kids are kids.... ;) ;).

[Kees Heiden]

Oh boy, she is victim of the sideways Iphone picture scam!

She climbs well, but hasn't got spiderman skills.

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[John Stevens]

Many thanks for the pics of the carvings. Of all the pictures I’ve seen of cathedrals, I’d never seen wood carvings like that. And thanks for the pics of your daughter on the tip of the spear, as I’ve heard it called. Impressive.

[David Myers]

Nice pics, Kees.

Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy seeing old architecture/ carvings particularly in places of worship/public use. Even the humblest resident of Aosta going back centuries would have been able to see those items you shared.

[Frederick Skelly]

Very nice Kees!