Acqui Terme (; pms, Àich ) is a city and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
province of Alessandria
The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part ...
,
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. It is about south-southwest of
Alessandria
Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin.
Alessandri ...
. It is one of the principal
winemaking
Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...
communes of the
Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d'Acqui.
The city's hot sulphur springs have been famous since this was the Roman town of ''Aquae Statiellae''; the ancient baths are referred to by
Paulus Diaconus
Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
and the chronicler
Liutprand of Cremona
Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 920 – 972),"LIUTPRAND OF CREMONA" in '' The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 1241. was a historian, diplomat, ...
.
In 1870 Giovanni Ceruti designed a small pavilion, known as ''La Bollente'', for the spot at the centre of the town where the waters bubble up at .
History
During the Roman period, the region was connected by road with
Alba Pompeia and Augusta Taurinorum (
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
) and was populated by the local Celto-
Ligurian tribe of the
Statielli The Statielli, Statiellātes, or Statiellenses were members of a small Ligurian tribe that inhabited an area south of the river Padus (today the Po). Their chief town was Aquae Statiellae (Acqui Terme), on the road from Vada Sabatia, near Savona t ...
. The region was subject to Roman rule after their main center, Carystum (Acqui Terme), was attacked in 173 BC by the legions led by the consul
Marcus Popilius Laenas. The Statielli did not oppose the resistance, but in contravention of the Roman law of war, the console killed thousands of them, reduced the other gauls to slavery, and began to organize the sale of slaves from the population. Some of them were transferred to the north of the
Po, but others survived free in small villages in the surrounding areas that remained outside of Roman rule. In 2008 a necropolis was found in the nearby town of Montabone.
[Le Ceneri Degli Statielli - La necropoli della seconda età del Ferro di Montabone, ] The remains show that the Statielli conserved their own customs and traditions for the entire the first century B.C., and likely after.
While controlled by Rome, an important town was built over Carystum, known for the natural thermal waters and spas. The remains of the aqueduct which supplied the waters and springs can still be found near the center of the town, along the river
Bormida.
In the 6th century, Acqui became part of the
Lombard kingdom of northern Italy. It was ruled by its bishop from 978, becoming an independent commune in 1135. In 1278 it was annexed to the
Marquisate of Montferrat, to which it belonged until the acquisition by the
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The du ...
.
It was connected by a railway line to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
in 1892.
Main sights
*
Acqui Cathedral:
Romanesque edifice on the Latin cross plan, built in the late 10th century and consecrated in 1067 to ''Santa Maria Assunta'' by bishop Guido. The façade has a portal sculpted by Antonio Pilacorte, a late 15th-century
rose window
Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window' ...
and a 17th-century portico. The
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
-style bell tower is from 1479. The interior houses a late 15th-century triptych by the Spanish artist
Bartolomé Bermejo
Bartolomé Bermejo ( 1440 – c.1501) was a Spanish painter who adopted Flemish painting techniques and conventions. Born in Cordoba, he is known for his work in the Crown of Aragon, including the Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of V ...
, and a Baroque altar of Saint Guido.
* The Palaeologi Castle, mentioned for the first time in 1056. It was rebuilt in the 15th century by Marquis
William VII of Montferrat.
*
Church of the Addolorata: also called ''San Pietro'' dates to 7th-century. It was almost entirely rebuilt in the 10th-11th centuries in Romanesque style, and attached to a Benedictine abbey. It was again renovated in the 18th century, and returned to a neo-Romanesque appearance in the 1930s.
*
Church of San Francesco: rebuilt in 19th-century, stands adjacent to 15th century cloister of the former Franciscan convent.
*
Church of the Madonnalta
*
Sant'Antonio Abate
*
Church of Madonna della Nieve
* Roman Aqueduct, also called Roman Arches Site.
Roman Aqueduct
/ref>
File:Bartolomé Bermejo - Retablo della vergine di Montserrat.jpg, ''The Virgin of Montserrat'', in the cathedral.
File:Acqui Terme – the cathedral.jpg, The cathedral. The loggia dates from the 17th century.
Twin towns—sister cities
Acqui Terme is twinned with:
* Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, Italy
* Argostoli
Argostoli ( el, Αργοστόλι, Katharevousa: Ἀργοστόλιον) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the isl ...
, Greece
People
* Pierdomenico Baccalario (born 1974), writer.
* Giulietto Chiesa (born 1940), journalist and politician.
* Luigi Raimondi (born 1912), Apostolic Delegate to the United States, cardinal, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Other
The city of Acqui was the namesake for the 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui"
The 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui" ( it, 33ª Divisione di fanteria "Acqui") was an infantry Division (military), division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Acqui was classified as a mountain infantry division, which meant that ...
of the Royal Italian Army
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manf ...
, which was active during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Acquese Web Portal of tourism, typical products, health and wellness
{{authority control
Roman towns and cities in Italy
Wine regions of Italy
Spa towns in Italy