Vesime
Parish church of the Assumption
In the province of Asti, along the Bormida River, following the road leading to Cortemilia, lies the village of Vesime. Traditionally, the name derives from the Roman indication of the twentieth milestone from Acqui Terme, when the site was likely a rest stop or a branch along the road connecting Acqui to Alba. Over the centuries, the ancient Latin name "ad vigesimum lapidem" gradually evolved to become the current "Vesime."
The territory of Vesime appears in sources as early as 1170 and 1179, while the first mention of the castrum dates back to 1209, documenting its membership in the domains of Marquis Ottone del Carretto. Initially an Aleramic fiefdom, it passed into the hands of the Asinari of Asti in 1300, and later to the Scarampi.
The oldest mention of Vesime is in fact due to the presence of the parish church, attested in 978 in an imperial diploma from Otto II in favour of the bishop of Acqui, Benedetto.
The parish church of Santa Maria
The Parish Church of Santa Maria a Vesime, now known as the Parish Church of the Assumption, is one of the oldest and most significant religious buildings in the Acqui area, both for its architectural significance and its documentary value. Despite subsequent renovations, it retains notable traces of its original Romanesque construction.
It stands in the valley bottom, beyond the Bormida River, along the road leading to Roccaverano, in a position that allowed it to fulfill its religious and administrative role over a larger territory, near important communication routes and close to the waterway. A similar location is also found in other contemporary parish churches along the Bormida, such as those of Monesiglio and Cortemilia.
The building, oriented toward and adjacent to the cemetery, dates back in its original features to the early decades of the 11th century and featured a basilica plan with three naves, divided into five bays and ending in three semicircular apses, with a gabled roof.
Outside, on the southern clerestory overlooking the cemetery area, a series of small hanging arches and four single-lancet windows can still be seen, representing the typical decorative language of the Romanesque period.
Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the structure underwent a transformation with the construction of a massive bell tower in place of the southern apse, a project that responded to both defensive needs and new architectural requirements.
The northern nave, however, is the result of a modern expansion that involved the demolition of the old archpriest’s house; today, a glass window in the floor allows the oldest foundations to be seen.
Inside, the apse basin preserves pictorial evidence from various periods. The oldest cycle, dating back to the 15th century, depicts a Blessing Christ with the globe in his right hand; Remnants of this decoration, although partially obscured, still emerge beneath a second layer of 17th-century plaster depicting musician angels and cherubs enclosed by a low painted balustrade. Finally, some modern winged heads were added to the previous Late Gothic layer.
From the end of the 14th century, the parish church gradually lost its function as a mother church, transferred to the church of San Martino, located in the center of the village below the castle. As early as 1577, the parish church was documented as a cemetery chapel.
Pastoral visits from the 17th century described a building that was partly embellished but in need of maintenance. In 1609, a mullioned window and a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary were still visible on the façade; the walls of the central nave retained frescoes that had deteriorated over time, while the side aisles appeared bare. The flooring was partly beaten earth and housed several funerary monuments. The apse basin featured a painted representation of Christ Pantocrator and, on the altar, a wooden statue. Saint Lucy, now lost, was painted on the sides.
Toward the middle of the same century, further interventions enriched the building with ten stuccoed and painted chapels along the side aisles, filled with statues depicting the Mysteries of the Passion of Jesus Christ. The stucco group of the Adoration of the Magi, still visible at the end of the right aisle, likely also dates to this period.
Behind the high altar, a sumptuous polychrome stucco choir was created, with statues of saints placed in niches separated by twisted columns. The central space of the apse features a niche, also framed by twisted columns and topped by a broken tympanum, where the 15th-century wooden statue of the Madonna and Child originally stood, placed on a pedestal and crowned by two angels. Nearby, three niches on each side house six statues of saints, including Saint Anne, Saint Margaret, Saint Libera, and Saint Joseph.
These polychrome stuccoes, executed in at least two phases starting in 1650, are part of a broader program of artistic renovation of the churches of Vesime, similar to the sculptural embellishments of the Oratory of the Disciplinati.
Between 1750 and 1760, the building was redesigned with the addition of the imposing late-Baroque porticoed façade, which confirmed its function as a Marian shrine.
Of particular devotional importance was the 15th-century wooden statue of the Madonna and Child, considered miraculous and “dear to the parishioners.” Don Francesco Ghiazza of Vesime dedicated a pamphlet to it, recently republished by Giovanni Rebora, which documents the community’s connection to the statue. In 1949, after a thorough inspection, the statue, covered with three layers of stucco, was repainted and consolidated; today, after further conservation work, it is kept in the parish church of San Martino.
The castle and the cultural heritage
On a hill overlooking the parish church stands the castle of Vesime, built in the late 12th century and documented as early as 1209 in the Codex Astensis, where Vesime is mentioned with the term “castrum et villa.” The source depicts it as a fortified complex perched atop a hill, equipped with a tower and fortifications on the northern side.
The irregular layout combined residential and defensive functions and over time underwent numerous expansions and adaptations to the needs of the local lords. Today, sections of elevated walls and both square and circular towers remain.
Sixteenth-century inventories, together with archaeological investigations, allow us to reconstruct a complex structure, divided into several rooms whose exact location is still unclear. Descriptions mention at least two residential buildings with decorated rooms, as well as service areas such as cellars, wells, and stables. Sources also attest to the presence of a chapel dating back to the early 15th century, connected to the reception hall, traces of which remain today in a frescoed semicircular niche on the second floor of the north tower.
At the foot of the castle complex, between the hill and the river, lies the urban core, where the town hall can still be seen today: a palace with a loggia supported by sandstone columns, likely built in the 14th century with materials recovered from the castle and subsequently remodeled.
Next to it stood the church of San Martino, documented since the 13th century as a noble chapel and later becoming the population’s main place of worship. Originally a single-nave, it was later enriched with the addition of several altars and a bell tower. It occupied the area corresponding to the current town hall—now a museum—and the first porticoed wing. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, the church gradually assumed the role of a parish church, replacing the old parish church, a role it maintained until the late 1800s.
The 1887 earthquake severely damaged the building, rendering it unusable and sparking debate about the construction of a new parish church. In 1890, the City Council approved the construction of the new church based on a design by engineer Pietro Maccarelli. The original plan included a bell tower at the end of the left nave, but it was never built: this is why the 17th-century bell tower of the old church is still used today.
Nearby, the Oratory of the Immaculate Conception, home of the Disciplinati, preserves traces of several decorative phases – all frescoes. The oldest, from the early 16th century, features geometric and vegetal motifs, a seraph angel, and scenes from the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and the life of a saint; a later phase, from the late sixteenth century, includes some episodes of the Passion of Christ in the first bays on the left.