Cripta e Museo di Sant’Anastasio

Visiting the Crypt of Sant'Anastasio means literally immersing oneself in the oldest history of Asti and interpreting the traces of time that are woven into this site, and that have their roots in Longobard and even Roman times.
On the site one can still see the remains of the Romanesque church dedicated to St Anastasius, which from at least the 11th century became the seat of an important women's monastery. The church, which was built shortly after 1000 AD, had three naves, and of great impact must have been the system of cross vaults, which rested on quadrangular masonry pillars or on supports formed by four half-columns. Most of the capitals displayed in the museum corridor must have decorated precisely this column system.
An entire room of the museum is dedicated to the exhibition of various stone artefacts from the city's noble palaces. Prominent among them are the coats of arms of Asti's noble families and architectural decorations, as well as a splendid fragment of a multi-headed fountain.

The Crypt and Museum of Sant'Anastasio are part of the integrated museum network of Musei di Asti. The Smarticket, the ticket to visit the city's museums, is on sale at Palazzo Mazzetti, Corso Alfieri 357.