Asti is brimming with history from Roman times on.
When the settlement became a Roman ‘municipium’ called Hasta, it included what are now known as the Alto and Basso Monferrato.

From the 11th century the town began the rise that made it the most important centre in Piedmont until the 13th century.
It remained a free Republic until 1313, when it passed under the rule of the Angevins, the Orléans, the Marchesi of the Monferrato, the Viscontis and finally the House of Savoy.
At the end of the 1700s Asti rebelled against the Savoys and the Republic was proclaimed once more.

During the Napoleonic period it became the capital of the Tanaro administrative department, and since 1935 it has been a provincial capital.

Asti is a land of wine: an economic and cultural identity that has made it world famous through the Moscato-based sparkling wine that has taken its name from this Carolingian city.

Its once largely family-run farming economy was transformed by Torino-based mechanical industry between the ‘60s and ‘70s into an industrial area.

The surviving agriculture has taken on a more professional, entrepreneurial aspect, and a dogged defence of high quality wine has led to the awarding of d.o.c. status to as many as 11 wines and to the opening of prestigious enotecas and wine stores, which have become a point of reference for connoisseurs and gourmets.

Signs of its glorious past can be seen in the old town centre, where the medieval setting is set off by fine examples of 18th and 19th century architecture.
The “Palio” horse-race is an occasion for a return to the Middle Ages, while the “Festival delle Sagre” revives countryside traditions, and the “Douja d’Or” celebrates the wines grown in the area around Asti.

The town is closely linked to the surrounding territory, where a succession of gentle hills ripples down to the Bormida Valley and blends into the fertile pastures of the Asti Langa.