Chiesa paleocristiana di San Lorenzo

About the museum

Just outside the Roman walls of Aosta, in an area that in Roman times contained a necropolis, a cruciform funerary basilica was built in the 5th century. It was intended to receive the burials of the first Christians of the diocese and of its bishops. Excavations carried out in the 20th century brought the building to light beneath the parish church of the village.

In the 8th century the basilica was devastated by a fire and then destroyed by a flood. Rebuilt in the 9th century, it lost its funerary function and became a parish church of much smaller size. Between the 11th and 15th centuries successive alterations erased the Romanesque phase, and in 1642 the building was rebuilt in its present form, with the apse facing west, the opposite direction to the original.

It was the parish church until the end of the 18th century, then the seat of the Confraternita del Santissimo Sacramento. During the First World War it served as a military store and later as a parish hall. Today the site can be visited: parts of the liturgical structures can be seen, together with a reliquary platform holding the tombs of the bishops Grato, Agnello and Gallo (5th–6th century) and other burial rooms dating from between the 5th and 8th centuries.

Highlights

• Remains of the 5th-century cruciform funerary basilica
• Reliquary platform with the tombs of the bishops Grato, Agnello and Gallo
• Burial rooms from the 5th to 8th centuries
• 17th-century church built over the ancient basilica
• Included in the combined ticket “Aosta Archeologica”

Operated by

Regione autonoma Valle d'Aosta

Admission & discounts

The regional website states that a visit requires the combined “Aosta Archeologica” ticket; the Aosta Valley tourism portal gives a rate of €10 for monuments alone. There is no ticket office on site: tickets are bought at the ticket offices of the MAR and the Criptoportico forense, or online on the MiDA platform. Free admission also applies to teachers and accompanying adults of school groups, and to holders of the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte e Lombardia.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The regional tourism portal lists the site as partially accessible, with access limited to the ground floor.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The site is on Piazza Sant'Orso, outside the Roman walls, near the Collegiata dei Santi Pietro e Orso.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit