Erli is a small, scattered municipality in the Neva valley in the Ligurian Alps, lying along what was once the ancient Salt Road connecting the coast to Piedmont. Its history is long: a possession of the marchesi di Clavesana from the twelfth century, it passed to the House of Savoy in 1623, then to the Republic of Genoa, and was sacked by Napoleon's troops in 1796.
The village rewards slow exploration. The parish church of Santa Caterina, flanked by a late-medieval campanile, stands opposite the oratory of San Giovanni. The church of San Martino di Erli, from the eleventh century, contains exceptional fifteenth-century frescoes — among the best-preserved late Gothic paintings in the Ligurian Alps. The Borgo dei Bassi, laid out on an elliptical plan, is a well-preserved example of a medieval hilltop defensive settlement. The surrounding hills are covered with chestnut woods, and in autumn locals gather mushrooms here.