In 1561 and again in 1563 the corsair Uluç Ali raided Terzorio and carried off young villagers, who ended up as slaves in Algiers. The inhabitants paid for a watchtower out of their own pockets; it still stands, sliced off at an angle at the top.
Terzorio's 232 residents live on a hill east of the Argentina valley, among olive groves and fields of daisies. The comune was abolished twice, in 1924 and in 1928, and only got its independence back in 1947.
The patron is Saint John the Baptist, but the feast does not fall on 24 June, the day of his Nativity: it falls on 29 August, which in the liturgical calendar is the Beheading. The parish church in the old centre, on the other hand, is dedicated precisely to the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, and its first building dates from 1444.
Next to the parish church stands the oratory of Santa Maria Maddalena, opened in 1745. At under two square kilometres, Terzorio is the second smallest municipality in Liguria by area, after San Lorenzo al Mare.
Torre quadrilatera
Pesto alla Genovese
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Next up: Saint John Beheaded, patron of a small village with a tower built against corsairs, Sunday 29 August
Nearest airport: Genova, 97 km away
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📅 Every year, on 29 August
Terzorio celebrates Saint John Beheaded on 29 August; the parish church, dedicated to the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, was first built in 1444, while the town's 16th-century tower was erected in defence against Barbary corsairs.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Terzorio, but an easy day trip away.
