The Maison des Anciens Remèdes
The Maison des Anciens Remèdes (House of Ancient Remedies) is a historic building in Aosta, the principal city of the autonomous Valle d’Aosta region in northwestern Italy. Located at the foot of the Alps near the confluence of trade routes that have crossed the Great and Little St Bernard Passes since antiquity, the building belongs to a city whose fabric compresses Roman monuments, medieval towers, and later Alpine vernacular architecture into a remarkably small urban area. The name evokes the long tradition of herbal and medicinal knowledge associated with Alpine monastic and lay communities.
At a glance
- Type
- Historic urban building
- Period
- Medieval foundations with later modifications
- Style
- Alpine vernacular / historic Aosta townhouse
- Location
- Aosta, Valle d’Aosta, Italy
Overview
Aosta preserves one of the most complete Roman street grids in northern Italy, overlaid with medieval religious and civic buildings, all within a compact valley surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the Alps. The Maison des Anciens Remèdes contributes to this layered urban texture as a historic structure whose name reflects the city’s long-standing connections to herbal medicine, pilgrimage hospitality, and Alpine lore. The building stands in a city that has been continuously inhabited since its foundation as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum by the Romans in 25 BC.
History
Aosta’s role as a major transit point between the Italian peninsula and transalpine Europe gave it enduring economic and cultural vitality from the Roman imperial period through the Middle Ages. The trade in medicinal plants and remedies was an important element of Alpine commerce, and buildings associated with apothecaries or herbal preparations were common features of historic valley towns. The Maison des Anciens Remèdes likely developed its current identity during the medieval or early-modern period, when the preparation and distribution of botanical remedies was organised around specific urban workshops and premises.
What you see
The building presents the characteristic features of Aosta’s historic urban architecture: stone construction adapted to the Alpine climate, modest street frontage, and integration into the dense fabric of the old town centre. Aosta’s compact core — easy to explore on foot — allows visitors to move quickly between Roman-era sites (the Arch of Augustus, the Theatre, Porta Praetoria) and medieval structures. The local use of French reflects the bilingual Francophone-Italian identity of the Valle d’Aosta region.
Cultural significance
The building’s name, and the tradition it evokes, situates it within the broader history of Alpine healing practices — a knowledge system that drew on monastic pharmacology, local plant communities, and the needs of pilgrims and travellers crossing the high passes. This heritage is increasingly recognised as a form of intangible cultural patrimony alongside Aosta’s more celebrated Roman and medieval monuments.
Practical information
- Address
- Aosta, Valle d’Aosta, Italy (45.7138° N, 7.2751° E)
- Hours
- Check official website or local tourist office for current access information
- Tourist office
- Aosta Tourist Office, Piazza Chanoux 2, Aosta
Getting there
Aosta is served by direct trains from Turin (approximately 2 hours) and by the A5 motorway. The historic centre is compact and walkable from the railway station. Most of Aosta’s monuments and historic buildings are within a 15-minute walk of each other in the old town.