Thermal Destinations

Acqui Terme

Historic thermal town

Acqui Terme

Italy

Acqui Terme is located in the heart of northern Italy’s Piedmont region, surrounded by breath-taking vineyard landscapes recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Its hot mineral waters, extremely rich in therapeutic properties, were already known by the Romans, who founded the ancient town of Aquae Statiellae.

Today, Acqui Terme continues this long spa tradition, offering medical, wellness and beauty treatments in the thermal facilities built around its three hot springs: Bollente, Acqua Marcia and the mud lake Lago delle Sorgenti.

In the heart of Piedmont

Find Acqui Terme

Piedmont · Northern Italy

Natural springs · Living tradition

The Waters

Springs

Bollente, Acqua Marcia, Lago delle Sorgenti.

Temperature

74.5ºC

Chemical Elements

Sodium chloride, bromine, iodine, sulphur.

Earliest Use

173 AD

The Bollente Spring flows with a capacity of 560 liters per minute and, with its high mineral content, is the primary source for the thermal treatments. Between 1870 and 1880 the Engineer Ceruti built the Greek style marble aedicule – a small temple or shrine, built in order to emphasize the importance of Acqui’s thermal heritage. Built in an eclectic style embellishes this charming piazza.

The Bollente waters combined together with the water from the Lago della Sorgenti is used at the thermal establishments of Regie Therme Acqui located in the Bagni area, at one kilometer from the city center, near the Roman aqueduct. The water from the Lago delle Sorgenti gushes out at 50ºC, forming a lake with therapeutic mud deposited at the bottom. Mud bath therapies have been popular in Acqui Terme since the early 14th Century and are still in use today.

The third source, the Acqua Marcia, was discovered much later, during the second half of the 18th century, and it has a minor flow compared with the other springs. With a temperature of 19º C, it is mainly used as drinking water and for some inhalation treatments, as it is rich in sulphur compounds.

A town shaped by water

Thermal Heritage

From Aquae Statiellae to today

The ruins of Acquae Statiellae, an important thermal centre in Roman times, may be admired through Acqui Terme still today, both at the Archaeolgical museum,and at a fine selection of open-air archaeological sites, including the old Roman baths.

After the Roman splendor, the town fell in silence, but would revive in the 9th century, with the statute of free municipality achieved in 1274. By the end of the Medieval Ages new thermal facilities began to develop and in the 17th century Acqui Terme is already an emerging spa town. The town’s full development as a spa resort comes at the end of the 18th century, when the Municipality take control of the sources and the first modern cure establishment is built, in 1879.

At the end of 1980’s Acqui’s waters returns to the administration of the Municipality and the regional government, after years of state ownership, from 2017 they are owned by a private firm, continuing a process of rebuilding and renewing of its infrastructure, still in progress today.

See the town · Feel the atmosphere