It has two names and earns both: Santa Maria del Soccorso for the dedication, Santa Maria della Rotonda for the shape. This is a small church on a central plan, put up in 1520 along the road that climbs from Villanova d'Albenga towards Garlenda, and the figure that describes it best is a measurement: the internal diameter is 10.40 metres.
What to see
The central plan is the reason to stop. In the early 16th century the circle belonged more to architects' drawings than to country churches; here instead the space turns around a single point, without the long pull towards the altar that governs almost every parish church in the area.
Beside it stands a squat bell tower closed by a spire. Together with the round volume it makes an unbalanced pairing and, for that very reason, a memorable one: it is the outline by which the building announces itself from a distance to anyone on the road.
Visiting
It sits outside the walled village, on the provincial road to Garlenda, and it is not a parish church with regular hours: reckon on seeing it only from outside. The walk around is enough to read its geometry, because with a round church you understand nearly everything by circling it.
Our editors' tip
We suggest reaching it on foot or by bicycle from Villanova rather than by car: the road runs flat between the fields of the Ingauna plain, the distance is short, and the building appears all at once, with no warning. If time is tight, pair it with the old centre a few minutes away, where the walls with their ten towers, the two gates and the medieval well survive.