A short drive from Alessandria, my brother and I reached the town of Cassine, located on a hilly outcrop above the Bormida river. We parked the car and then headed uphill to reach the city center. Walking through the old town streets, we first stopped to visit the church of Santa Caterina, a baroque building from the 18th century with the typical exposed brick style of the area. After that, we continued uphill and reached the large, irregular square in front of the town hall. Here, on the highest spot in town, were the 16th-century oratories of San Bernardino and that of the Santissima Trinità , as well as the beautiful brick Gothic church of San Francesco built between the 13th and 14th centuries. Unfortunately, the church was closed and we couldn't visit the nice interior, which included a small museum and traces of medieval frescoes. From behind the complex, a grassy area granted a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape with the river valley below, and in the distance, the snow-capped mountains. Moving on through town, we passed by the 14th-century Zoppi palace, which started as a stronghold and was later transformed into a residential palace. On the same street, we then passed two more churches, the highly refurbished 12th-century church of San Giacomo and the 18th-century church of San Lorenzo. Once we had reached the end of the old town, we turned back and walked back through all the way back to the car. We then drove southwards and reached the city of Acqui Terme. We found parking and then headed to visit the old town, starting with the nearby church of San Francesco, which was completely rebuilt in neoclassical style in the 19th century. Right in front of the church, next to a small square, was a small archaeological site which consisted of a public fountain from the ancient Roman period. Moving on, we reached the western end of town, where we then visited the Basilica of San Pietro. The church has early Christian origins and was rebuilt in Romanesque style in the 11th century, before being heavily altered during the 18th century in baroque style, but then returned to its Romanesque style during the 20th century. The interior was empty and whitewashed, and there was only a trace of one medieval fresco surviving. From there, we headed deep into the city center, walking through the pretty streets lined with old buildings. We then took a staircase which led us to the elongated Piazza Duomo, at the end of which stood the Cathedral. Built around the 11th century in a Romanesque style, it then received a Gothic bell tower, cloister, and main decorated portal in the 15th century, and its interior was refurbished in the baroque style between the 17th and 18th centuries, with some additions also in the 19th century. Once inside, we marveled at the use of marbles and gold as well as the frescoes decorating the ceiling. Noteworthy was the crypt dating to the original construction of the church with 98 columns. We also visited the Gothic cloister and were surprised we were the only visitors. After visiting the cathedral, we headed further uphill until we reached the highest point where the Castello dei Paleologi is located. This castle originally dates to the 11th century but was rebuilt in the 15th century. Despite holding a museum, it was closed as we arrived, and so we just admired the view of the city from up there. Continuing onwards, we walked through some pretty and narrow streets passing by the baroque church of Sant'Antonio, which was closed. Down one of the streets, we then reached the remains of the ancient Roman theatre. Nearby, we then decided to stop to have lunch at the restaurant La Loggia, from where we had while eating a great view over the town's rooftops while eating. After lunch, we eventually walked down to what is Acqui's main square, the Piazza della Bollente. The name comes from the large octagonal marble shrine sitting at the center of the square and built in 1879. It was built around a thermal spring from which 74.5 °C of a sulfurous-salty-bromine-iodine water, known to be used since ancient Roman times, comes gushing out. It was incredible to be able to just walk up to it and warm our hands on this sunny yet still slightly cold day. Even just standing next to the water spout with the evaporating water gave us such a warm and nice feeling. On the same square on the western part is the civic tower, an old medieval gate which was expanded in 1763 and turned into a clock tower. From there, we walked on to reach the southern end of the old town, where, at the end of the 19th century, the Nuove Terme, a spa, was built, still in use to this day. We had finished the tour of the city and headed back to the car to leave. Just outside the city center, to the south, across the Bormida river, we stopped briefly to admire the ruins of the ancient Roman aqueduct, with a section of four large arches still standing. From there, we drove on and reached the town of Monastero Bormida. We had stopped here just briefly for a photo a few years before, but this time intended to visit its nice old town. We parked the car and then again stood on the riverbank, the Bormida, to admire the picturesque view of the Romanesque bridge with the castle and old town. We crossed the bridge and walked up to the castle, heading inside its inner courtyard. The castle actually began as a monastery and was only developed as a defensive structure starting from the 15th century. In fact, its square structure with defensive towers at each corner was then connected to what seems to be a solitary 27m high tower, which was once actually the monastery's bell tower then turned into a defensive one. In front of the castle, on the eastern side of the town's main square, we then visited the church of Santa Giulia, dating to the 18th century with a few later neoclassical refurbishments. After visiting the church, we then had a walk through the rest of the town and headed back to the car. We then decided to drive up one of the nearby hills where a large bench, like many others scattered throughout the region, was set. From there, we had a great view of the town from above. Leaving the area we then drove through the nice hills, but with really narrow roads, until we reached the hilltop village of Castelletto d'Erro. Here we visited its 13th-century medieval tower, sitting at the center of the town on the highest point, and once part of the castle that stood there. From the part which we could reach by climbing halfway up, we had a beautiful view of the surroundings. We could see many old towns scattered around the hills, with some medieval towers in the distance on top of other hilltops. We could also see the alpine range in the far distance, with some peaks easily recognizable, such as Monviso, especially as sunset was approaching. After the nice view, we drove back down the hills and passed Acqui Terme once again to reach the small town of Visone. Here, for our last stop, we visited the Malaspina castle, originally dating to the 10th century but heavily refurbished during the 15th century. Now only part of the main keep survives, as in 1861, a heavy flood from the nearby Bormida river took down with it part of the old town and part of the castle perimeter. From the castle, we then walked around the rest of the town, stopping at the small oratory of San Rocco, with a nice Christmas nativity scene, and the nearby 16th-century Palazzo Madama Rossi. Once back at the car we then drove home.
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