For a few years an entire municipality carried this church's name. After the fall of the Republic of Genoa, the new commune that entered the Letimbro department on 2 December 1797 was called San Giovanni d'Andora, a name inherited from the ancient parish church of the same title; only with annexation to the First French Empire, in the department of Montenotte, did the territory take back the name Andora. The church that had lent the name dates from the 15th century and still keeps its presbytery alongside.
What to see
The church of San Giovanni Battista stands on the right bank of the Merula, not far from the medieval bridge, in the nucleus that people in Andora regard as the oldest in the municipality. The fabric is 15th-century, with the presbytery attached: a country parish complex, not a town church.
A few steps away is the bridge over the Merula: ten arches, three of them humpbacked. It is called the Roman bridge, but it was built in the Middle Ages over a pre-existing structure, and it served the road that climbed from the hamlet of Colla Micheri to the Clavesana castle. Further up the slope you reach Borgata Confredi, a block of old houses put up to lodge the people who worked the olive terraces around here.
Visiting
San Giovanni is inland, not beach: you leave Marina di Andora and go a few kilometres up the Merula plain. The parish takes in the smaller settlements of Canossi, Confredi, Gumbasso and Stampino, all within walking distance. This is a working parish church, so opening times follow the services; the churchyard, the bridge and the old houses can be seen at any hour.
Our editors' tip
Come on 24 June if you can. For the feast of St John the Baptist the village puts on its patronal celebration with a sagra on the church grounds: long tables outdoors, food and wine, and the takings staying with the community. Otherwise, the line of the old medieval road to Cervo still starts here: you walk among the olive trees and understand, better than any information board could tell you, why the village grew up here and not on the shore.