Alba la Romaine

A tiny village nestling within its fortifications, Alba is a jewel shaped by history. Dominated by a powerful castle, renovated at the end of the C.17 th. after the Wars of Religion, the town appears before the visitor like a great lady bedecked in black and white. These colours, which are characteristic, come from the basalt and limestone, the two local materials used for the construction of houses and buildings.
In summer it is good to stroll in the narrow arched streets, leading from inner courtyards to small chapels. From the clock tower to the castle these passages are the life of the village, a sort of central nervous system.
A former Gallo-Roman city, Alba was very active during the whole period from the C.1st to the C4th .Nothing was missing: forum, sanctuaries, temple, porticoes, great and prestigious public buildings. A past that the town has besides, jealously preserved buried beneath the vineyards that surround it and that it rediscovers during archaeological digs that are numerous in the region.
Here the past merges with present. Inscriptions, high reliefs and even the traces left by the chariots on a paved road, history reveals itself at every street corner in each site newly discovered.
It is no doubt for all these reasons that Alba has seduced so many artists. Jazz concerts, plays in the antique theatre, shows in the castle courtyard –so many pretexts to help you linger in this historic spot.


Information: Tourist office: Tel: 04 75 52 45 86
Visits to the castle: Tel: 04 75 52 42 90