Como

Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has made Como a tourist destination, and the city contains numerous works of art, churches, gardens, museums, theatres, parks, and palaces: the Duomo, seat of the Diocese of Como; the Basilica of Sant'Abbondio; the Villa Olmo; the public gardens with the Tempio Voltiano; the Teatro Sociale; the Broletto or the city's medieval town hall; and the 20th-century Casa del Fascio.

With 215,320 overnight guests in 2013, Como was the fourth-most visited city in Lombardy after Milan, Bergamo, and Brescia. In 2018, Como surpassed Bergamo becoming the third most visited city in Lombardy with 1.4 million arrivals.

Lake shoreline

With an evocative walk along the west shore of lake Como you can admire many neoclassical villas built between the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. In 1959, the local government created a "romantic promenade" offering citizens and tourists a wonderful itinerary rich of beautiful sights and elegant buildings.

Villa Carminati, designed in 1787 by architect Felice Soave, is a small and elegant villa with double open gallery and decorated with statues and little angels.

Villa Saporiti, now headquarters of the Provincial Administration, also known as "la Rotonda" for its shape, was built on the project of Leopoldo Pollack and decorated with various sea deities.

Villa Gallia, also property of Como's Provincial Administration, was built in 1614 by abbot Marco Gallio in the place where Museo Gioviano (XVI century) was situated.

All villas are surrounded by lush gardens. Further, Villa Parravicini Revel is well recognizable thanks to its neoclassical and majestic structure, with Italian garden, while Villa Volonté has two symmetrical wings, with frontons decorated with bas-relieves and statues, and connected through a veranda.

At the end of the walk stands the famous neoclassical Villa Olmo, architect Simone Cantoni's masterpiece, and erected by marquis Innocenzo Odescalchi. Villa Olmo, with its beautiful Italian garden in front and its English garden in the back, is now home to crowd-pulling art exhibitions.

History

The hills surrounding the current location of Como were inhabited, since at least the Bronze Age, by a Celtic tribe known as the Orobii. Around the first century BC, the territory became subject to the Romans. The town center was situated on the nearby hills, but it was then moved to its current location by order of Julius Caesar, who had the swamp near the southern tip of the lake drained and laid the plan of the walled city in the typical Roman grid of perpendicular streets.

In 774, the town surrendered to invading Franks led by Charlemagne, and became a center of commercial exchange. In 1127, Como lost a decade-long war with the nearby town of Milan. A few decades later, with the help of Frederick Barbarossa, the Comaschi were able to avenge their defeat when Milan was destroyed in 1162.

Subsequently, the history of Como followed that of the Duchy of Milan, through the French invasion and the Spanish domination, until 1714, when the territory was taken by the Austrians. Napoleon descended into Lombardy in 1796 and ruled it until 1815, when the Austrian rule was resumed after the Congress of Vienna. In 1859, with the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the town became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy.

Como Cathedral

Construction began in 1396 on the site of the previous Romanesque church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The façade was built in 1457, with the characteristic rose window and a portal flanked by two Renaissance statues of the famous comaschi Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. The construction was finished in 1740. The interior is on the Latin cross plan, with Gothic nave and two aisles divided by piers, while the transept wing and the relative apses are from the Renaissance age.

Silk

Como has been for many years the most important center for silk production in the world, boasting a long tradition in this sector and holding the title of "world capital of silk". It is said that it all began thanks to Mr. Pietro Boldoni of Bellano and we are talking about 1510. He was the first to open a silk industry in Como.

Lake Como

The city of Como is on the shores of Lake Como. The lake is shaped like an inverted 'Y', with two 'legs' starting at Como in the south-west and Lecco in the south-east, which join together half-way up, and the lake continues up to Colico in the north. Several boats and hydrofoils a day travel all the way up the lake from Como to Colico stopping at most of the towns en route.

Some material from Wikipedia, and the Como Tourist Information Office.