The Orobi, an ancient tribe native to Liguria, founded the first nucleus of the town of Como. Around 1000 B.C., at the time the Ligurians had mixed with the Celts, a little community sprung up in the territories comprised within the Prealp lakes and the Ticino river, giving rise to the first urban settlements: the Culture of Golasecca. The first settlers in Como occupied the hills surrounding the dale, knows as the area of Prestino. Around the 5th century, the territory was conquered by the Galli “Insubri” and in 196 B.C. by the Romans. It was Julius Caesar who urbanized the city of Como after starting a wave of immigration of more than 5000 colonists into the area, amongst which numerous Greeks. Many names of several towns trace back to Ancient Greece: Lecco (Leucos), Nesso (Nasso), Dervio (Delfo), Lenno and Lemna (Lemna), Corenno and Colonno (Corinto). The town was situated at the entrance of a very affluent area, an important connection route between Transpadania and the northern areas. In 42 B.C. Novum Comum acquired the privileges of a municipality and became an actual city with walls, a law court, a thermal spa and several patrician villas (Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were born during the most prosperous period of the town). The western port was located in Novate at the time when Lario was still connected to the lake of Mezzola.

During the rise of Christianity, emperor Constantine founded the first dioceses with the intent of obviating to the institutional shortcomings of the Empire; the dioceses of Como were named after saints, such as S.Carpoforo, S.Abbondio and S.Fedele. The Lario territory became one of the major centers of divulgation of Christianity, as extensively testified by the flourishing of religious art in Ossuccio, Piona and Gravedona (several communities, such as the parishes of Gravedona and the Comacina Island, were dependent on the dioceses). Because of the long controversy between ecclesiastic and state powers, the bishops of Como and Aquileia adhered to the Schism of the Three Chapters, causing a part of the Church to rebel against the Byzantine authority. The Longobard invasion aggravated the schism even further: the Longobard queen Teodolinda obviously had an interest in provoking the population to rebel against the Empire of Constantinopolis. Como formed an alliance with Aquileia and became independent from the Ambrosian diocese, which, from that moment on, would become Como’s sworn enemy. The rivalry between the two cities was temporally placated by Charlemagne, who left the Valtellina and the Ticino regions under Como’s control, while assigning eastern Lario and the future Campione d’Italia to Milan.

From they year 1000 onwards, the revival of commercial activity allowed the wealthiest merchants to acquire noble titles (from which several families such as Rusca, Natta etc. originate). However, the excessive prosperity that derived made Milan jealous and stirred up the old controversy that led to a war that lasted a decade, with the defeat of the Larian army in 1127. The situation changed thanks to the direct intervention of Frederick Barbarossa and the Holy Roman Empire. As a matter of fact, the Emperor disapproved of the Communes’ excess of autonomy and asked Como to join forces with the Empire to free themselves from the Ambrosian dominion. Therefore, Como did not partake in the foundation of the Lombard League against Barbarossa; the Germans, however, played an important role in the rebirth of the city after razing Milan to the ground. Barbarossa reinforced the Baradello Castle and erected the tower of Porta Vittoria, while the Como army destroyed the parish church of the Comacina Island out of revenge because of
the alliance with Milan (1169). This historical event is commem-
orated every year during the Feast of S.Giovanni and the Palio
of Baradello.

Como with Milan in the background.

However, these glorious years (following the defeat of Barbarossa at the hands of the League in 1176) came to and end when the rich Rusca family nominated a relative of theirs as successor of bishop Lambertenghi, thus causing the Papal Excommunication. Now that Como was no more supported by the Church, it gradually entered into the orbit of the Milan (that was being reconstructed). Azzone Visconti seized Como in 1335 and the city was later on handed down to his nephew Gian Galeazzo, who started the construction works – that would last more than three centuries - for the Cathedral, The Sforza family succeeded to the Visconti, at the time the European powers were fighting over the possession of Italy. The government of Massimiliano Sforza depended on Switzerland (to whom he had ceded the Ticino), while Francesco II depended on the Spanish. After the death of Francesco, Milano was handed down to the Spanish. In 1521, the Spanish army plundered Como, guilty of hosting the French army during the war against the Augsburg; the Baradello Castle was pulled down and the fort of Fuentes erected in Colico by way of compensation. During the 16th century, Como was under the dominion of the Augsburg of Spain. It was now a stronghold with 10.000 inhabitants (Milan counted 70.000), and had become specialized in silk and wool cloth production. Fierce competition with the great commercial centre of Torno led once more to Como’s destruction (1522), thus marking the end of its period of glory. The legendary villa d’Este and villa Pliniana - the first venues of a long tradition of noble vacationers that would characterize the lake over the following centuries - trace back to this period. In 1600 the Counter-Reformation brought to light the work of cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, who erected the palace of Gravedona that bears his name, and Villa Balbiano, in Ossuccio. During the 700s, following the devastating pestilence (narrated in Manzoni’s historical novel The Betrothed) which had halved the population, Northern Italy passed under the dominion of the Augsburg of Austria. Como, which was now under Lombardia, was downgraded to the rank of province, as were the other towns of the region. The privileged epoch of independent Communes, where Como had imposed itself as a great power, was definitely over. This modern political framework was sanctioned by the arrival of Napoleon who announced the constitution of the Cisalpine Republic in 1797, during his stay at Villa Saporiti. Como was assigned the government of the Lario District, which also comprised the territories of Varese, Lecco and Sondrio, whereas the vast dioceses annexed the Canton Ticino and the Grigioni. In the meantime the scientific activity of an illustrious citizen, Alessandro Volta, was thriving, and the rising Romantic Movement elected the Lario as one of its paradises. During 1800, the entire pleiad of literates and musicians, who summered in the sumptuous villas owned by patrons of arts and royal families of Europe, was present. Thanks to its conformation, the lake was the ideal place for elite sojourns that suited the severe, contemplative and melancholic spirit of the Romantic artists down to the ground. Cosima Liszt - daughter of the piano virtuoso and future wife of Wagner - was born in Bellagio in 1837. She was named Cosima in honour of Como.

In the meantime, in 1859, the city celebrated the arrival of Garibaldi and its annexation to Italy - a prelude to the urban revolution that would confer to the main city its modern day layout (for example, piazza Cavour was created in 1872 after the reclamation of the old harbour). Transportation also played a vital role in the history of the territory’s evolution, prompted by the technological innovations to which Volta had given the first formidable impetus. The funicular (considered a prolongation of the North Milan Railways) was inaugurated in 1894 and the first international Voltian exhibition took place in 1899. In 1913, the most important worldwide seaplane competition (from which the future Aero Club would derive ) was organized, while the first steamboat had been launched in 1826, not to mention the renowned postillion of S. Gotthard, that directly connected German Switzerland, Lucerne and Zurich. Lastly, the futuristic monuments erected by Giuseppe Terragni and Antonio S.Elia rendered the city the major center for Italian Rationalism
Many performances of La Scala (the Milanese theatre had been destroyed by the American raids) were hosted in the lyrical theatre of Como, as the city had not suffered bombing during World War II. Benito Mussolini, who was on the run towards Switzerland, was captured in Dongo and shot in Giulino di Mezzegra on the 28th of April 1945. The discovery of Mussolini’s secret correspondences was the main reason of Churchill’s stay at Villa d’Este in Lario shortly after the end of the war, under the false pretences of a pleasure holiday.

Today the city is only a pale reflection of its former glories. After its secession from Varese (1927) and Lecco (1992), Como has progressively lost its political prominence with respect to the nearby towns. Its infrastructures are the same as those of the 60s and town planning still lacks a proper definition. The decline of the silk industry has shifted the barycentre of its economy towards small enterprises and tourism, thanks to its natural environment of worldwide renown, but remains concealed and mostly hidden behind a tendentially closed mentality. Such contradiction is well representative of the character of the Larian inhabitants and of the lake itself, still today an uncontaminated natural habitat but shamefully threatened by a cancer called property speculation.

March 1159: the bishop of Como, Ardizzone celebrates the arrival of the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, ally of the Como army during the wars against Milan and the other Communes of Northern Italy. Como adhered to the Lombard League in a second moment, but then submitted to Barbarossa in 1174.
This event is commemorated ever year during the Palio del Baradello.

On the side of the Cathedral portal, a plaque in honour of Pliny the Elder, who was native to Como.

• The construction of the Cathedral, admirable work by the
  Comacini Masters, began around 1396.
• The turquoise cupola, constructed in 1700 by Filippo Juvarra.
• The portico of the Broletto, adjacent to the Duomo, former municipal building.

• View of the lyric theatre Sociale (1813) from the colonnade.
• The portal on the right side.
• The lantern of the cupola
  and the small steeple.

• The interior of the Cathedral features a late-Gothic aspect with a Latin cross plan and three aisles divided by pillars
  with acute arches.
• The colourful glass windows.

Christmas light.

The tower of Porta Vittoria (XII), a bastion erected by Barbarossa at the time of the wars against Milan.

A view of the tower from the portico of
Santa Cecilia, a small church annexed to the
Classic Lyceum Volta.

Via Cesare Cantù with Porta Torre in the background.

A medieval procession.

The church of S.Fedele, 10th century (right).

Cesare Cantu Street with Porta Torre in the background. 

Ancient fifteenth-century buildings overlooking piazza S.Fedele, heart of the old town.

Aerial view over the historical centre.

The walls that encircle the primitive Roman castrum. In the background,
the Gattoni tower.

Roses in bloom.

A little break during the visit…

• Torre S.Vitale in springtime.
• Clouds and ruderal plants
  along the walls.
• In 1673 the lake overflowed and flooded via Diaz. “The lake waters arrived here”.

• Vitani street and Cinque Giornate street. 

• Via Balestra.
• Natta Palace (14th century).
• Via Bonanomi.

Via Muralto.

A historic shop.

The Civic Museum and the other internal courtyards.

Piazza Roma and the back dock. 

A few metres away from the ancient trading port - which was active until 1800 with fishing activities, lake transportation and cloth washing - stands the ogival church of S. Agostino,
a former Augustinian convent of the 15th century.
Photo on the right: the traditional feast of S.Antonio that takes place very year on the 17th of January.

S.Abbondio (16th century), the second most important monument of the city (after the Cathedral), and maximum expression of the Lombard Romanesque style, with construction principles presumably inspired to the typical architecture of Burgundy and Normandy, which can be seen in the vertical soaring lines and the two bell towers at the side of the church. The interior features five aisles with round arches and cylindrical pillars. The main apsis is adorned with fourteenth-century frescoes.

The most ancient church of Como, S Carpoforo, erected in 1040 on an area where a martyr was put to death under the orders of Diocleziano. The apsis was built with materials recovered from a Roman cemetery.

From ancient to modern: the Casa del Fascio, seat for the local fascist branch (1936), designed by architect Giuseppe Terragni, “Comasco” by adoption and father of Rationalism.

• The Voltian Temple erected in 1927 in memory of scientist Alessandro Volta, native to Como.
• The Monument to the Fallen of Word War I (by Terragni 1933, inspired to the drawing of S.Elia).
• View including the Voltian Temple,
  the Monument to the Fallen,
  and the Cathedral.

• When he was only 23, Giuseppe Terragni designed the so-called Transatlantic (Novocomum).
• The rear side of the Novocomum,
  along the stretch of the lakefront Trento.

The birthplace of Alessando Volta (1745-1827), the homonymous statue and the Temple.

The plaques in memory of the birth of Alessandro Volta and Cosima Wagner.