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Regions in Italy Region Piemonte >  Province Alessandria > Comune Acqui Terme

Acqui Terme Province of Alessandria, Piemonte (Piedmont-Piemont) Region, Italy The Locality: The town is situated in the Monferrato hills along the banks of the Bormida river, and is renowned for its amaretti cookies and the typical "baci" Acqui, the truffle and mushrooms, and the excellent Monferrato red wines. There is in the town one of the earliest spa industries of Italy, the Acqui S.p.A. The town offers fine thermal complexes which include mud baths and comfortable hotels, but also great wines and food, cultural and historical heritage, facilities for sports and hiking itineraries.

Info Population: about 19,000 inhabitants -- Zip/postal code: 15011 -- Phone Area Code: 0144 HISTORY: The hot springs of Acqui are some of the oldest in northern Italy: the ancient Ligurians had a settlement there, and the springs were famous in Roman times and in tremendous demand during the Middle Ages. According to the legend, Acqui was founded by the Greeks with the name of Caristo, then it was conquered by the Romans in 172 BC. Ancient historians like Pliny, Strabo, Seneca, Tacitus already spoke of its thermal waters, called "Aquae Statieellae". After the fall of the Roman empire in 476 AD it became a Dukedom under the Longobards. In the 11th century it was a member of the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa. In 1278 it was under the Marquis of Monferrato, in 1533 it came under the power of the Gonzaga from Mantua and finally came under the power of the the Savoy. WHAT TO SEE: The important Museo Civico Archeologico, which collects archaeological material from the pre-historical age to the roman and medieval periods coming from the ancient Aquae Statiellae, such as axes in stone, ceramics, items from the necropolis. One of the most important features is the "piazza della Bollente", center of the city system, with the reconstruction of a big roman fountain in marble. Then there are hundreds of amphorae found in the excavations of via Gramsci and Piave and ceramic objects of common use, such as pots and water jugs, as well as glasses and ceramics from the Rheinland zone, Asia and Africa. The Monferrato Castle, originally built in the 11th century, but renovated in the following centuries. Basilica of San Pietro, built in the 9th century and restored in 1960. Parish church of the Assunta, dated 1067 but reconstructed in the baroque period, with a fine marble portal and an interesting 14th-century cloister. The archaeological ruins of the ancient Roman baths and the aqueduct.

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