The wooden church of St. John the Baptist was built in 1791. The church tower was built in 1818. The church was renovated in 1959. The church is based on the construction of a log house, with a tri-point closed-off chancel, built in the Baroque architectural style. The narrow-sided tower originates from 1818, whilst the ridge turret is covered with a gourd-like apex. The church contains a late-Baroque main altar with statues of two bishop saints and paintings of Saints Augustine of Hippo or Zechariah and one of St. John the Baptist.
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Manarola is a small town, a frazione of the comune of Riomaggiore. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists, with a population of 353.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name 'Manarola' is probably a dialectical evolution of the Latin, 'magna rota'. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to 'magna roea' which means 'large wheel', in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region.