Known by the name of Santa Maria or of the Madonna, it is one of the oldest churches in the area: it is mentioned in the Deed of Donation among the goods of the Abbey of San Quintino in 991 and in 1170 it was confirmed by Galdino, Archbishop of Milan.
Later, with its annexation to the Bishopric of Savona, in 1199 masses were officiated in it with its own chaplain. On July 17, 1565, Bishop G. Ambrogio Fieschi’s pastoral visitor, visiting the church of Santa Maria in Turpino (most likely identifiable in the church of Our Lady of the Visitation), judged it in need of radical care and restoration and ordered a new church to be built. It can be assumed with good certainty that it remained a parish church until 1579.
It was followed by the present church of St. John the Baptist, committing alms and legacies to the work. The orographic position of Santa Maria suggests that, originally, the hypothetical castrum of Turpino was on the same site, later moved, for defense reasons, to the nearby castrum of Montecastello.