The Palaeologi Castle in Acqui Terme was mentioned for the first time in 1056. It was rebuilt in the 15th century by Marquis William VII of Montferrat.
Acqui Terme’s Archaeological Museum is housed inside the castle. The exhibition is divided into three sections (dedicated respectively to prehistory: from Palaeolithic to Neolithic, to the Bronze and Iron Ages, to the Roman period and finally the Middle Ages), with a tour that comprises a total of seven rooms, plus further spaces dedicated to temporary exhibitions. Many notable artefacts of great historical and archaeological interest are included, that altogether offer an insight and important testimonies to the uninterrupted human presence in the Acquese area, providing us with an overall vision of the city’s population, from remote times right up to the threshold of the modern era.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.