BASILICA OF THE ADDOLORATA (formerly of San Pietro)

THE BASILICA OF THE SORROWFUL MOTHER (formerly of San Pietro)

The Basilica of the Sorrowful Mother stands on the homonymous Piazza, bustling on Tuesdays and Fridays with the chatter of the city market.

It is perhaps the ancient Cathedral of Acqui Terme and, although it has been heavily restored, it remains one of the most important testimonies of the ancient city.

A paleochristian cemetery basilica and the burial site of bishops until the early years of the year 1000, it was almost entirely rebuilt towards the last decades of the 10th century in proto-Romanesque forms; it was an abbey of S. Pietro of the Benedictine monks until the end of the 15th century, while starting from the 18th century, the church was dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.

Finally, on several occasions, starting from 1927, the Church underwent, as mentioned, a profound restoration, maintaining, however, as original structures, the entire main nave with its supports, the rear end of the side aisles, and the apses.

Externally, noteworthy is the octagonal bell tower from around the mid-1000s.

Inside, the Church appears imposing and austere.

Noteworthy is a large fresco from the mid-1400s, of Lombard school, depicting the "Pietà with the Bishops San Maggiorino and San Tito" on the sides; of a seventeenth-century typology, there are instead two canvases "The Crowning with Thorns" and "Jesus before Pilate," while the wooden statue of the Sorrowful Mother was donated by Bishop Monsignor Antonio Gozzani (1675-1721) towards the end of his mandate.