Como is a beautiful town situated in a small valley, it is surrounded by the mountains and it is near by the famous homonym lake, called also Larius.
The province of Como extends to the NW over the whole length of the western shores of the lake up to Switzerland and to the NE up to the area of Sondrio, to the south up to the areas of Varese-Milano-Lecco. With a surface of 1,288 square kilometres it could be considered a small province, but its size should not deceive anyone. The town offers extensive geographical variety, panoramic views, striking landscapes and very picturesque villages. Within a few miles, you can go from the high mountains to the lake shores, from the wild alpine valleys to the hills of the very industrial Brianza, from the city area of Como to quiet villages, from the fauna oasis in the NE to the commercial skiing resorts of the SE or of the NW side crossing over the Swiss border.
Como is the perfect location for anyone who enjoys city breaks, it aims to relax and offers many kinds of sport (for instance, watersports and hiking tours), but also for people that are interested in history, art and architecture. Indeed, the city has a very rich history of notable people (such as Plinio il Vecchio and Plinio il Giovane, ancient Roman writers and politicians, Alessandro Volta, the scientist who invented the battery, Paolo and Benedetto Giovio, writer and antique collector of the latest Umanism/Renaissance, etc.; the “Magistri Comacini”, architects, craftsmen and carvers operating during the Romanesque and Gothic periods, Antonio S’Antelia and Giuseppe Terragni, very famous architects of the XXth century etc.) and in beautiful ancient and contemporay monuments - most of all churches - and buildings and in very intersting museums (for instance, the Silk Museum, the Civic Art Gallery, the Civic Archaeological Museum “P.Giovio”, the Temple of Volta etc.). Como is also a good place for shopping; it is very close to Milan, the fashion capital, and to Switzerland (Fox Town in Mendrisio is indeed a very well-known shopping centre). Cruising the lake, you will be able to admire some marvellous private villas, whose owners are also very important people of the American jet-set, like George Clooney, but there are several villas with their botanic gardens open to the public too. Catching the funicular, in 10 minutes you will get to Brunate (1,000m), a small village at the top of the hill facing Como city and from there in half an hour walk you will get to Volta’s lighthouse; there you will be able to admire also the Alps. Of course, in Como you will able to taste typical Italian food and good wine; also, if you like it, you will be able to spend a night gambling at the Casino in Campione d’Italia. For all these reasons, Como offers its visitors a unique and fascinating atmosphere.
The area of Como has been settled since prehistoric times (about 12,000 B.C.); in the second century B.C. under the ancient Romans, Como became a truly strategic and booming town, due to its geographical location . They founded a colonia romana first surrounded by protective walls and towers (nowadayas you can only see their ruins underground), then under the Roman Empire (in the latest first century B.C.) it changed into a municipium and started blooming and extending its possessions. Anyway, between 1118 and 1127 the city suffered several civil wars and was destroyed by the inhabitants of Milan, despite Barbarossa medioeval walls and towers (they are still visible and surround the historic city centre of Como). Around the 14-15th century Como found new splendor under its new ruler, the Visconti family; in 1451 Como finally became part of the region of Milan. The city took on the role of an important trading place based on the wool industry and from 1510 it continued its industrial development in silk production; from the latest 17th century the town has grown mostly thanks to its silk industry that became one of the largest in the world, but from the 18th century it has also grown thanks to its steel industry (the highest concentration is still in the area of Lecco) and wood industry for making furnishings (mostly in Brianza). Between the 18th and the 19th centuries, Enlightenment and Romanticism attracted lots of famous Italian intellectuals to Como, such as Parini, Foscolo, Porta, Manzoni, and also foreigners, Stendhal, Byron, Shelley, Musset; notable Italian musicians found inspiration, spending their time by the lake, such as Rossini, Bellini and Verdi. Nowadays Como is a prosperous town, its economy being mostly commercial and industrial, but in the last few years, tourism has become an important source of wealth.
