10 Ancient Ruins in Italian Alps That You Shouldn't Miss

Built in the first century AD, this is one of the best conserved Roman amphitheatres, whose seating area is made up of 44 levels and can hold up to 22,000 spectators.

Devastated by an earthquake and abandoned, this unique medieval village has been reborn and is now inhabited by an international artists community.

The Early Christian basilica of Saint Vigilius was built outside the city walls presumably around the end of the fourth century. The structure’s original purpose was as a burial place for the missionaries in Anaunia Sisinius, Martyrius, and Alexander, murdered in the Val di Non by pagans on 29 May 397. Alongside the martyrs Vigilius, the third bishop and the patron saint of Trent was also buried.

The way leading to the Cryptoporticus is located in the garden on John XXIII square. It is a monumental building marking a sacred area for cult. It is a basement building with a series of windows. It was horseshoe-shaped and is formed by two parallel tunnels with barrel vaults, supported by sturdy pillars. The Cryptoporticus dates back to the Augustan age: it served mainly as a supporting structure of the land level that in that part of the city formed a slight slope from North to South, therefore creating a gap between the sacred area and the adjacent legal area. The colonnade above him served as a cornice for the two temples that stood side by side on a single podium, which could be reached by a staircase. The long east side of the Eastern Temple is well-preserved, and it can be seen nowadays, under the archdeaconry building. The Cryptoporticus therefore formed a covered walkway surrounding the sacred buildings. Its galleries represented an extension of the Forum colonnade, whose main function was to protect from rain and snow in winter and from sun in summer. During the third and fourth centuries, it probably turned to be used for goods storage.

The Lombardy Region officially recognised the Nature Reserve of Manerba del Garda ("Della Rocca, del Sasso e Parco Lacuale") with a regional resolution in April 2016. The park covers a territory of approximately 1,160,000 m2 (include meadows, woodland, trails, vineyards and olive groves), as well as 850,000 m2 of the lake itself. The Reserve was established to preserve and promote the ecosystem and landscape, historical and archeological sites, as well as to support such activities as education and understanding, preservation and divulgation of a unique environment, remarkable for both its history and biodiversity. The Valtenesi Archeological Museum within the Reserve is the information centre for visitor who wish to understand why throughout history humans have chosen to settle in this spectacular setting. The Reserve is always open to the public.

The Aostan Roman Theatre stands out for its straight southern facade measuring 22 meters in height. Its majesty is punctuated by a series of buttresses and arches and is lightened by three orders of windows with different width. The masonry is characterized by large rectangular blocks of conglomerate and of local limestone. This suggestive part was originally longer than 60 m. The east and west sides were about 38 m long. The cavea is easily recognisable, as a semicircular structure where the public sat. Only the last six steps remain visible, in addition to the two, lower and wider, where the most important people used to sit. The radial substructures on which laid the rest of the terraces are still in their original place. The stage was located in front of the cavea, of which only the foundations are still visible. Small rooms behind served as dressing rooms for the actors, while the sides of the stage were used as deposits for equipment. The entire structure was then completed by arcades that stood against the perimeter wall on the shorter sides. The theatre was not built at the same time when the city was founded (25 BC), but rather a few decades later, in the Julio-Claudian era, as some previous buildings were found in this very area.