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Please do not assume that a book's appearance in 'The Builder' library means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe. The Webmaster THE LAKE OF COMO ITS HISTORY, ART, AND ARCHEOLOGY BY REV. T. W. M. LUND, M.A. CHAPLAIN OF THK CHAPEL OP THE BLESSED VIRGIN MART, LIVERPOOL WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. L™ DRYDEN HOUSE, GERRARD STREET, W. 1910 The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &* Co. At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh PREFACE This volume is that part of my book, "Como and Italian Lakeland," which deals with the Lake of Como alone. The larger work was found to be too bulky for travellers to carry, so I have adopted the plan of dividing the original volume into parts, which will prove handier for use. Natu- rally the Lake of Como takes precedence in the first issue. There has been little to exclude or add, but I have tried to revise up to date as thoroughly as possible. I should have felt this reprint superfluous in the face of other publications since mine in 1887, but for the urgency of some of my friends on the Lake, especially the Hoteliers, who assure me that my book is not superseded, and still has its value for travellers. I can only say of it what I said in my original Preface, that in its compilation my sole object has been to help English-speaking people to a better use of their opportunities in reaping something of the rich harvest, which lies around them on the shores of the Lake of Como in Scenery, History, Archaeology, and Art. I was first drawn to the task by the want of some book in English to point out the resources of the Lake, and the consequent failure of visitors to see all its charms. As far as I could, I have given references to my Authorities, in the hope that my readers may go to them m95'604 vi PREFACE for fuller and first-hand information. Original documents have been consulted as far as they were available. Most of those whom I thanked for their help in 1887, have passed away, and the world is the poorer for their loss. I am greatly indebted to Messrs. G. E. Thompson and E. H. Gilpin for some of the best illustrations in the book. T. W. M. Lund. St. Mary's Lodge, Liverpool, June, 1910. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. PONTRESINA TO VaRENNA .... 1 II. Yarenna 14 III. The Conventional Round of the Lake of CoMo 26 IV. ISOLA COMACINA ...... 37 V. IsoLA, Madonna del Soccorso, and Lenno 55 VI. Cadenabbia 68 VII. Menaggio .76 VIII. Northern Part of the Strada Eegina . 84 IX. Gravedona 95 X. The Cainallo Pass 115 XI. Pian di Tivano and Val Assina . .125 XII. Villa Pliniana and Torno . .135 XIII. Val Intelvi and Monte Generoso . .149 XIV. CoMO 158 XV. CoMO 173 XVI. Saronno 186 XVII. S. Pietro di Civate 200 Yii 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Three Graces ..... A Siesta Near Vassena .... A Camballo in Port Bellagio from Villa Carlotta . Bust of Josephine Beauharnais at Villa Melzi Street in Bellagio .... Isola Comacina .... Torre dei Zobii .... S. Francis at Villa Arconati . Obsolete Head-dress of Comasque Women The Baptistery at Lenno Lake of Piano .... Menaggio . A Breeze at Menaggio . At Nobiallo .... S. Vito at Cremia .... Crypt of S. Vincenzo, Gravedona . Cloister at Piona .... From the Castle of Vezio Near Limonta .... Varenna LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PA(5E Pilgrimage Church at Lasnigo 134 Prehistoric Tomb near Torno . 143 Peonies at Hotel Florence, Bellagio 147 Near Pescallo 155 Como .... 184 II Santuario at Saronno . 186 Bridge at Lecco 200 S. Pietro di Civate . 201 Interior of S. Pietro di Civate 204 Lago d'Annone from S. Pietro di Civate 205 THE LAKE OF COMO I ; , c CHAPTEH . : PONTRESINA TO VARENNA •' Knowledge makes knowledge as money makes money, nor ever perhaps so fast as on a journey." —S. Kogees. Access to the Lake of Como is gained by four great gate- ways,—Como on the S., Lecco on the E., Menaggio on the W., and Colico on the N. We will make our entrance by the of northern portal, with that crowd English people who fly like the swallows to the sunny South with the first chill of winter at Pontresina, S. Moritz, or the huge Maloja Cara- vanserai. The migration generally begins early in Septem- ber, so that the autumnal or more popular season on the Lake of Como may be roughly stated as comprising Sep- tember and the first half of October. There has already been a spring season, fitfully honoured, in April, May, and June. July and August are too hot for such active enjoy- ment as English people commonly demand, though from personal experience the writer regards these months as among the best for the pure enjoyment of one of the most beautiful phases of the Lake. From November to March, when a stranger is rara avis in the land, there is a climate for the most part dry, fresh, and delicious, with almost uninter- rupted sunshine and a tranquillity of air, broken now and then by a brief interval of storm, only to be succeeded by a renewed spell of halcyon weather. The drive of sixty miles between Pontresina and Varenna, leading through the Upper Engadine, over the Maloja Pass, down the Val Bregaglia and the lower part of the Spliigen, 2 PONTRESINA TO VARENNA and along the eastern shore of the Lake of Como, can scarcely be surpassed in Europe for sublimity, beauty, and variety. Nowadays, unfortunately the drive usually ends at Chiavenna, since the completion of the railway from that town to Varenna. An Italian driver is mostly a picturesque, genial, plausible personage. He drives a hard bargain, game to the last, but sticliLs'.to it when made except occasionally in the matter of tiihe, wheii he always has an excellent excuse for unpunctu- ality. , He directs his horses by sundry strange cries, and Yearns pedjistrians by cracl^ s of his long whip, volleyed out Ly a succession of cie\er jerks. In any emergency his repertory of oaths and ejaculations is voluminous. When calm, he swears by two personages only, Christ and Bacchus. When excited, he shows familiarity with the whole calendar of Christian saints and the entire heathen mythology. He is most careful for the comfort of his passengers and the rest of his horses. He plies backwards and forwards over the Alps in summer, and then betakes himself to the Riviera or Naples for winter. He smokes long, rank cigars half the day, and sings snatches of operatic airs, national songs or church music, for the rest of the time. He knows the legends of his locality, and will tell them very prettily and credulously, but his history is slight, and chronology never becomes more definite than "once upon a time." He seems very happy, behaves very well, and would be much less interesting had he learned "extra subjects" in a Govern- ment school. Progress will probably lay its hand upon him before long and spoil him, like many other things that it has touched. A vetturino who once brought me by this route, lived at Campo Dolcino on the Spliigen. This is worthy of record, if only because he gave that as his sole reason for being Catholic. It is true courtesy to be careful of other people's feelings. The humblest peasant in the north of Italy seems to be naturally gifted with such grace.