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Insider’s Guide TO LAKE Insider’s Guide TO

Lario Hotels invites you to discover a magical lake with breathtaking views and a fascinating history just waiting to be explored. The spellbinding panorama and the sparkling waters, with their reflections of the mountains, the scenery and the architecture, are a unique combination to be found nowhere else. The places to see and the vantage points from which to see them are infinite. For two thousand years nature and man have lived here side-by-side, in a setting of rare beauty that has inspired artists, poets, writers, musicians, film directors and a host of others. LARIO HOTELS SHARES THE SECRETS OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LAKE IN THE WORLD The hotels of the Lario Hotel group are not just experiences to be enjoyed, but also important ALBERGO TERMINUS was built in the early 20TH century in an eclectic and Art Nouveau style, links to the nation’s history, of which they are an integral part. The historic buildings, the villas, and is noteworthy for its frescoed rooms and its spectacular two-storey hall and particularly for the Art Nouveau and the rationalist style are all beautifully represented among them. its distinctive tower, now a guest room with a 360 degree view.

VISTA PALAZZO, LAGO DI COMO, originally the Palazzo Venezia, in a neo-Gothic style, is a POSTA DESIGN HOTEL was designed by the genius of Rationalism, , whose reminder of the manufacturing tradition, as well as the city’s history of welcoming visitors. most significant works are to be found right here in Como.

HOTEL VILLA FLORI is the result of the expansion of an existing structure built by the Marquis So, our four hotels are the starting points for a similar number of journeys of exploration – Raimondi as a wedding present for his daughter, who married Garibaldi. The hotel still preserves CLASSIC COMO, 19TH CENTURY VILLAS, ART NOUVEAU AND RATIONALISM – to which can be the 19th-century, furnishings in the room where the “hero of the two worlds” stayed. added countless others, providing for a unique variety of perspectives from which Lake Como can be appreciated. We have set out for you ten unusual, and even surprising, theme-based suggestions to ensure your visit to our area is truly unforgettable. ITINERARY 1 • CLASSIC COMO PALAZZO VENEZIA CLASSIC COMO CLASSIC

Palazzo Venezia, which after careful renovation, became home to the Vista Palazzo | Lago di Como in 2018, is an important architectural testimony to the dual identity of Como - a renowned tourist destination on the one hand and on the other a city known for centuries as the source of some of the world’s finest silk. The prestigious building was erected in 1870, following the

ITINERARY 1 ITINERARY demolition of a dye works, and immediately after the reclamation of what is now Piazza Cavour from the old port in 1869. Originally the headquarters of the Schmidt & Lorenzen silkworks, Palazzo Venezia is distinguished by a neo-Gothic façade, unique in Como, dominated by Venetian palace inspired single-and triple-lancet windows, with their characteristically slender columns that give the building an almost weightless luminosity. Another distinctive feature is the clock affixed to the corner of the building that dates back to 1904, making it the oldest of the 120 such clocks scattered throughout the city. The Vista Palazzo revives the original tradition of the eastern flank of the piazza, where Como’s first deluxe hotels opened in the early 1800s. At the Tate Gallery in London (or on its website) you can admire a watercolor, Como: Sunset, painted by the great William Turner in 1843 through a window of the former Dell’Angelo Hotel, now home to a bank, where ’s daughter, Cosima, was born on Christmas Eve of 1837. THE CATHEDRAL SANT’ABBONDIO

THE CATHEDRAL BASILICA OF SANT’ABBONDIO

Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption, One of the most important examples of Romanesque it is the third largest religious structure in , architecture in , it was consecrated by Pope CLASSIC COMO CLASSIC after the Duomo of and the Certosa of Pavia. Urban II in 1095. Built on the remains of a 5th- Interestingly, all three buildings originated in 1396 as century church, it bears the name of the patron saint inscribed on a stone at the center of the rear façade. of Como, who is buried there. The complex, located Construction of the cathedral, built largely of marble on the ancient Via Regina that connected Italy with from the Musso quarries on Lake Como, continued for , also includes the cloister, a monastery until three-and-a-half centuries until 1744, when the dome 1783 - now the seat of the University of - was completed. A notable curiosity is the Porta della and the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. A Rana, or “door of the frog,” on the side of the cathedral late 19th-century restoration brought the distinctive facing the lake, featuring a bronze frog believed to bring double bell tower back to life. The anonymous good luck. Today, it is almost invisible, worn away from fresco cycle in the presbytery is among the most centuries of superstitious caresses. significant of the Lombard Trecento. ITINERARY 1 ITINERARY

SAN FEDELE TEATRO SOCIALE BASILICA OF TEATRO SOCIALE SAN FEDELE

Como’s first cathedral, built in the 5th century along Built between 1811 and 1813, it was the site of the with the nearby church of San Pietro in Atrio - now an 13th-century Castello della Torre Rotonda. It is exhibition space - and the baptistery of San Giovanni part of the circuit of Traditional Lombard Theatres in Atrio (the columns of which were reused in 1800 for and, from 1943 to 1946, hosted , whose the portico of the high school on Via Cantù named after Milan home was bombed during the war. A ), was originally dedicated to Saint temple of opera, the stage of the Teatro Sociale Euphemia. Between the 10th and 12th centuries it has hosted the likes of Paganini, Liszt, Mascagni, was rebuilt in the Romanesque style and dedicated Pasta, Toscanini and Muti. The hall is in the shape to San Fedele, protomartyr of the 4th century, whose of a cello case, with a capacity of 999 people. For remains were found in (where the temple of San the 2013 bicentenary, restoration was done on the Fedelino stands) and moved to the basilica in 984. The outdoor arena at the rear with its historic velarium rear portal is decorated with allegorical zoomorphic showcasing Alessandro Sanquirico’s painting of the figures. death of .

ITINERARY 1 - CLASSIC COMO ITINERARY 2 • VILLAS AND MANSIONS VILLA FLORI

An exceptional gift for a wedding that should have been no less exceptional itself, but which turned

VILLAS AND MANSIONS VILLAS out otherwise. Villa Flori was built in 1859 by the Marquis Giorgio Raimondi as a wedding present for his daughter Giuseppina, promised bride of the “Hero of the Two Worlds,” . Indeed, the hotel has a room dedicated to Garibaldi, the main architect of the Unification of Italy, boasting the tiled stove and lacquered wooden wardrobe that furnished the general’s room when he was in residence. As his building site, Raimondi secured one of the most panoramic positions on the western branch of the lake, with a view that stretches from the villages of Torno and to the Dome of . A fervent patriot, he was enthusiastic about his daughter’s marriage, even though his future son-in-law was 52 and she was 18. Less happy was Giuseppina, who loved another soldier, ITINERARY 2 ITINERARY Luigi Caroli. Only when the latter left her did she agree to marry her older suiter. They had met on June 1, 1859, five days after Garibaldi’s victory against the Austrians at San Fermo, near Como. They married on January 24, 1860 in the chapel of another villa belonging to Raimondi, in , and separated that same evening; when they returned to their rooms, Garibaldi left a note accusing his wife of loving another. Despite the general’s immediate departure, Giuseppina refused to dissolve the marriage until 1880, as a means of defending her reputation. Meanwhile, in 1865 her father sold the villa to the Flori family, in whose hands it remained until it was again sold. It became a hotel in 1958 and, in 2011, underwent a total renovation that re-incorporated the splendor that had characterized the original structure. The hotel’s restaurant continues to bear the Raimondi name, along with the 19th century charm of the villa when it was first erected.

VILLA OLMO VILLA CARLOTTA

Designed by architect in the Neoclassical Built in the last decade of the 17th century in one style, Villa Olma is the most imposing of the villas on the of the most famous locations on Lake Como (“Then western branch of Lake Como. It was commissioned in we’ll go to , it will be divine,” said Greta 1782 by the Como nobleman Innocenzo Odescalchi to Garbo in the 1932 film Grand Hotel) Villa Carlotta occupy land where, according to Giovan Battista Giovio, is an example of style. It is renowned humanist and friend of Odescalchi, the home of the both for the art collection displayed throughout poet Caninio Rufo once stood - one described (including several sculptures by Canova and his in a letter by . Among Odescalchi’s school, such as Amor and Psyche, and The Last VILLAS AND MANSIONS VILLAS notable guests were Bonaparte and the poet Kiss of Romeo and Juliet by Hayez, and for its vast . In 1824. the villa passed to the Marquis botanical garden. Since 1927, Villa Carlotta has been Giorgio Raimondi, who built the nearby Villa Flori. One run by a foundation that ensures its preservation hundred years later, the Municipality of Como acquired and accessibility to the public. the property and now uses it for exhibitions and events.

VILLA BALBIANELLO VILLA MELZI D’ERIL VILLA MELZI D’ERIL ITINERARY 2 ITINERARY

The Lake Como villa most beloved by filmmakers Built in the Neoclassical style between 1808 and – among the movies shot there, John Irvin’s A 1810 for Duke Francesco Melzi d’Eril, vice president Month by the Lake (1995), Star Wars: Episode II – of the Italian Republic under Napoleon, the villa Attack of the Clones by George Lucas (2002), and is famous for its English gardens (now open to Casino Royale by Martin Campbell (2006) – is in the public) that extend for 800 meters along the , on a spectacular position at the tip of a shore of the lake, from the village of Bellagio to the promontory, the Dosso di Lavedo. Built in 1787 by hamlet of Loppia. Two films have been shot there Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, it was acquired in 1971 – HUNTED SUMMER (1988) and by the mountaineer and explorer , UNBOUAND (1990) - both inspired by the “cursed who 27 years later bequeathed it to FAI (Italian summer” of 1816, which Mary and Percy Shelley Environmental Fund) along with his collections. The spent on Lake Geneva. The sojourn produced the villa is open to the public. former’s masterpiece Frankenstein.

ITINERARY 2 - VILLAS AND MANSIONS VILLA VIGONI VILLA SERBELLONI

VILLA VIGONI VILLA SERBELLONI

Those in search of Europe’s roots can find them at “Da Vinci walked through these rooms and libraries Villa Vigoni. Since 1986 it has been the home of the where we walk with books and cups of tea,” wrote Italo-German Center, founded after the last owner, the Chilean poet Germán Carrasco, one of the Ignazio Vigoni, left the property to what was then many artists from around the world who have been West because it was the homeland of Enrico guests of Villa Serbelloni. Owned by the Rockefeller Mylius and his wife Federica Schnauss; the couple Foundation since 1959, it stands on the promontory gave the villa its current form in 1829. It was thanks to in the center of the lake in an elevated position and them that the greatest writers of the two countries, vaunts a venerable history. The villa was was built in VILLAS AND MANSIONS VILLAS Goethe and Manzoni, made each other’s acquaintance, 1486 and rebuilt the following century on the spot an event immortalized in the statues and paintings at where it is thought that Pliny the Younger’s Villa Villa Vigoni. The art collection is particularly rich in the Tragedia stood in Roman times. John F. Kennedy works of Hayez, and the park is a splendid example of was a guest there in June 1963. early 19thcentury garden design.

VILLA MONASTERO VILLA VILLA MONASTERO PLINIANA ITINERARY 2 ITINERARY

An example of the eclectic style of the Belle The most mysterious of Lake Como’s villas takes its Époque grafted onto a 17th-century structure, name from an intermittent spring studied by Pliny the 14 rooms of Villa Monastero represent four the Younger and , over which the centuries of the Lombard aristocracy’s history. Since structure was built in 1573 by Giovanni Anguissola, 1953, it has been home to a congress center for the governor of Como. The grandiose villa was the promotion of excellence in physics, through whose inspiration for the manor inhabited by the reclusive halls more than 60 Nobel laureates have passed. protagonist of Malombra, the novel by Fogazzaro The park features a botanical garden that winds for (1880) and film of the same name by Soldati (1942). two kilometers along the lake and then continues to It is cited in three works by Percy and , the village of by way of the “Lover’s Walk,” who tried to rent it in 1818. From 1843 to ’51, the a cantilevered walkway over the lake, ideal for a lovers Count Emilio Barbiano di Belgiojoso and romantic idyll. Princess Anne-Marie Berthier lived there. Some say their ghosts still haunt its halls.

ITINERARY 2 - VILLAS AND MANSIONS ITINERARY 3 • ART NOUVEAU TERMINUS ART NOUVEAU

A fine example of Art Nouveau style, the Hotel Terminus was built in the first decade of the 20th century on the Lungo Lario di Levante (renamed Lungo Lario Trieste during World War I) by the architect Italo Zanolini. The name Terminus, preserves the memory of its original function as the “thermal spa” of the nearby Grand Hotel Plinius, built in 1900 for the the celebration of the

ITINERARY 3 ITINERARY centenary of Alessandro Volta’s invention of the first electric battery. The site had previously been occupied by a group of buildings known as “Barsega,” which included a dye works that supported Como’s textile tradition. Upon the conclusion of the 1927 bicentenary of Volta’s birth, the Plinius closed down for a long period due to unsustainable costs, and in 1928, Terminus was born as the Hotel Meublé Terme. During the Nazi-Fascist occupation of (1943-45), the hotels on the lakefront were requisitioned by the Germans. Terminus was used to house high-ranking officers, their interpreters and secretaries until April 28, 1945, when the Allies were welcomed in Piazza Cavour by throngs of . In recent times, the hotel has been renovated, maintaining the original style and details, such as the exterior railings, cast iron lamps, stained glass windows, stuccoes, and, in the ground floor lobby and hallways, the wall and ceiling decorations. Common to many Art Nouveau buildings is the turret, which houses a two-story suite with a vaulted ceiling and 360-degree view that spans from the Duomo to the lake. COMO- CAMPARI FUNICULAR FOUNTAIN

COMO-BRUNATE THE ART NOUVEAU FUNICULAR ROAD OF BRUNATE

Starting from Hotel Terminus, you can take a stroll The village of Brunate, known as the “Balcony of

ART NOUVEAU back in time through the Belle Époque and the Art the ,” is an open-air Art Nouveau museum: 62 Nouveau style neighborhood. Walking east, you villas were built there between 1890 and 1915. At 50 first encounter the Como Lago train station, whose meters from the lower exit of the funicular, you will original canopy remains intact, and then the funicular find Villa Giuliani the only one open to the public – station, reminiscent of a mountain chalet. From here, characterized by balconies and floral decorations elegant carriages of Liberty design are pulled by a that create a wonderful dialogue with the surrounding steel cable for a seven minute ascent of 700 meters nature. Next to it is the Campari Fountain, another to the village of Brunate, a prestigious holiday precious legacy of the Belle Époque. Starting from destination of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. the church of Brunate is the Via del Liberty, or “Art The funicular was built in 1894, and since 1912 a Nouveau Road,” lined on both sides by spectacular cannon is fired every day at noon. villas, leading up to a scenic overlook that offers a an unforgettable view of the lake. ITINERARY 3 ITINERARY CONCORDIA STEAMER BERNASCONI MANSION CONCORDIA BERNASCONI MANSION STEAMER IN

Would you like to experience the thrill of a cruise Completed in 1906 as the home of the textile during the the Belle Époque period? Take a ride on magnate Davide Bernasconi and his family, since the steamer Concordia, the oldest such vessel still 2017 Villa Bernasconi has hosted the first “talking active on Lake Como. Baptized in 1926, it is powered museum,” dedicated to Art Nouveau, silk and the by a steam engine that drives a series of paddle villa’s original owners. The exteriors are rich in wheels. At the stern are two cabins in perfect Art decorative elements designed by the architect Nouveau style. The same style characterizes some Alfredo Campanini: among the floral motifs are the of the village piers on the lake, the most famous of butterflies of silkworms, which refer to the activity which is at Cernobbio, with an elegant circa 1906 of the munificent patron. The interiors are no less iron and glass canopy. It isn’t difficult to understand detailed, from the staircase to the stain glass why the Concordia is often used as a movie set and windows with metal bindings. A turret soars above for celebrity weddings like that of Emily Blunt and the main structure of the villa. John Kasinski.

ITINERARY 3 - ART NOUVEAU ITINERARY 4 • RATIONALISM IN COMO POSTA DESIGN HOTEL RATIONALISM RATIONALISM

The building was designed in 1930-31 by Giuseppe Terragni, one of the world’s greatest exponents of Rationalism, Albergo Posta’s lines, hovering between modern essentiality and Neoclassical elegance, testify to the compromise the architect had to reach with the town planning commission, which was resistant to innovation. “Knowing the attitude of this Commission, so as not to cause serious embarrassment to my client, I combined the three solutions of the Rationalist project with a Neoclassical solution, bourgeois in character,” wrote

ITINERARY 4 ITINERARY Terragni in a letter “I accepted the Commission’s approval as one would accept a brick on the head...” With the interiors, however, he ignored the commission and followed his own aesthetic ideals, using avant-garde solutions in laying out the spaces, starting with the curved dining room and the staircase. In 2013, when Lario Hotels took over management of Albergo Posta, a restoration recovered the original vision of Terragni, which had been altered over the years, and the hotel was renamed Posta Design Hotel. The interiors have been remodeled with an eye to both the aesthetic purity and the functionality of the spaces and great care has been taken to protect the original elements, particularly the yellow Istrian marble and the staircase. In keeping with the great architect’s love for the marble, it has also been used for other elements, such as the guestroom baths. On the external façade, two lamps designed by Terragni himself remain. THE WAR MEMORIAL

“CASA DEL FASCIO” THE WAR MEMORIAL

According to the 2017 volume 100 Buildings, Completed in 1933 by Giuseppe Terragni, the memorial RATIONALISM RATIONALISM published by Rizzoli USA, it is among the 10 buildings is based on a design for a lighthouse tower by Antonio of the 20th century that everyone should see at least Sant’Elia, chosen by Marinetti to commemorate the once in their lifetime. Giuseppe Terragni’s Casa del author of the Manifesto of Futurist Architecture. On a “Fascio,” today the headquarters of the Guardia di foundation of reinforced concrete, blocks of stone Finanza, was inaugurated in 1936. Its transparency from the Karst battlefront are assembled to create a contrasts with the Fascist regime that sponsored it 500-ton monolith crowned with a panoramic terrace and predicts the opposition between the designer’s and inscribed with the names of those from Como ideals and the political reality, which became who fell in World War I. Among them, Antonio Sant’Elia untenable in 1943. The first to praise the building was (1888-1916). The fallen of World War II were later also Le Corbusier. The dean of Italian poets, Giampiero inscribed, including Giuseppe Terragni (1904-1943), Neri, celebrated its “different and superior order of although he died of illness while returning from the beauty, like the Parthenon.” front.

NOVOCOMUM KINDERGARDEN ANTONIO SANT’ELIA “NOVOCOMUM” KINDERGARDEN ITINERARY 4 ITINERARY ANTONIO SANT’ELIA

The first work by Giuseppe Terragni, designed at The Asilo is the most poetic of Giuseppe Terragni’s the age of 23 and built in the spirit of a stealth buildings conceived to harmonize with the purity attack! To the municipal authorities, he presented and balanced growth of preschool children, which a traditional project in line with the Neoclassical it has hosted since 1937. The kindergarten is located portion of the same block in order to avoid the in the working class district of Como Borghi, once conservative objections that would subsequently dedicated to Antonio Sant’Elia, whose name it bears. effect the construction of the Albergo Posta. It is From the glass entrance, one beholds a space free nicknamed “The Ocean Liner” for its scale and of barriers, where the interior communicates with form, with a distinctive rounded corner, glazed the garden through solutions such as retractable on four out of five floors, which gives the building walls between one classroom and another, and its dynamism. It is possible to visit a part of the windows that open to encourage participatory building at Via Sinigaglia 1, where the Order of learning, conducted outdoors as much as possible. Architects of Como has its headquarters.

ITINERARY 4 - RATIONALISM IN COMO “CASA CATTANEO” LARIO ROWING CLUB

“CASA CATTANEO” LARIO ROWING CLUB

In the pantheon of modern architecture, there are Along the shores of Lake Como, on Viale Puecher, RATIONALISM RATIONALISM three prodigies from Como, all of whom died too visitors can admire an “urban museum” consisting of young: Antonio Sant’Elia, author of the Manifesto of a series of Rationalist buildings. With the exception Futurist Architecture, who died at the age of 28 in the of the War Memorial, they are all headquarters of Great War; Giuseppe Terragni, the Rationalist genius sports clubs. The most outstanding is the Lario who died in 1943 at the age of 39 upon his return from Rowing Club, designed by Gianni Mantero in the front; and Cesare Cattaneo, stricken by a fatal 1930-31, and built with a bequest from Antonietta illness at age 31, a month after Terragni’s passing. His Sinigaglia, mother of a world champion rower who most important work is Casa Cattaneo in Cernobbio died in the Great War. (1938-39). On a plot of land received as a graduation gift, he experimented freely in a game of intersecting rectangles following the Golden Section, crowning the structure with a metal “cage” on the top floor.

HOUSES FOR ARTISTS VILLA LEONI HOUSES VILLA LEONI ITINERARY 4 ITINERARY FOR ARTISTS

Another prominent exponent of Rationalism in The architect Pietro Lingeri, a native of , Como was Pietro Lingeri (1894-1968), to whom we was also responsible for another important Rationa- owe the three houses on Comacina Island, built list building, Villa Leoni in , which overlo- in 1940 and used to this day for summer stays by oks the lake from an excellent position with views of Italian and Belgian artists (In 1919 the island was Comacina Island and the Romanesque complex of given to the King of Belgium, who in turn gave it the Santa Maria Maddalena. Designed in 1938 and built Italian State, which left the island’s management to between 1941 and 1944 as the summer residence Milan’s famous Brera Fine Arts Academy.). Lingeri of a confectionery magnate, Villa Leoni is an admi- combines elements of Rationalist architecture, such rable example of Rationalism’s effort to reconcile as slit windows and glass brick, with materials and abstraction and nature. Interior and exterior inter- features typical of local peasant homes, including twine, thanks to the spaciousness of the windows, Montrasio stone, wooden walkways, and loggias on the patio and the loggia on the attic floor. the facade.

ITINERARY 4 - RATIONALISM IN COMO ITINERARY 5 • THE SILK ROAD THE SILK ROAD THE SILK MUSEUM OF COMO THE SILK ROAD

It is no coincidence that Renzo and Lucia, the protagonists of the most famous Italian novel, The Betrothed by (1785-1873), which begins on Lake Como, are both silk spinners. Textile production, and silk in particular, is a fundamental part of Como’s identity. And the best way to understand it is to visit the Museo Didattico della Seta (Educational Silk

ITINERARY 5 ITINERARY Museum), located in Como on the southern bank of the River, which for more than 100 years has supplied water to the city’s silk mills and, previously, the wool mills. Como’s textile tradition began with wool as far back as the 11th century and was later converted to silk in the 16th century. Today, silk remains the manufacturing sector with the most employees in Como. The museum, which since the late 1980s has collected machinery and relics from the main textile plants, not only offers an overview of the history of silk and its ties to the city of Como, but allows visitors to discover all the stages of the processing of the precious fabric - from the breeding of the silkworm to the reeling and twisting of the yarn to the weaving, dyeing, printing and finishing of the fabric. In the garden are three mulberry trees, whose leaves constitute the diet of silkworm caterpillars. An entire room is dedicated to the latter, enabling the visitor to discover their life cycle through multimedia stations and, periodically, in real time. Collections include 20th-century dresses, designs and lace. Adjacent to the museum is the Setificio, a school that has been training operators in the textile sector for 150 years. VILLA SUCOTA-FAR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY

VILLA SUCOTA-FAR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY

The Textile Studio Museum (MuST) is housed in the Cernobbio, a renowned tourist destination, has an important 19th century Villa Sucota. Since 2010 it has been the industrial past linked to the Bernasconi silk factory, which

THE SILK ROAD the Antonio Ratti Foundation, dedicated to cultural operated from 1872 to 1971 and employed a thousand legacy of one of Como’s most important textile people. It’s a story that is told through the decorations of the magnates, to whom we also owe the Antonio Ratti Villa Bernasconi. Once a prestigious residence and today Textile Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a museum, its exterior is adorned with motifs such as the in New York. The MuST, open to the public since Bombix Mori, the butterflies of the silkworm. Behind the villa 1998, boasts a collection of 3,300 individual exhibits stand two chimneys, preserved as artefacts of industrial as well as more than 2,500 swatch books, which archaeology. There are others to be found in Como: in collectively illustrate the history of textiles from the Piazza Giovanni Paolo II and in Viale Innocenzo, where the 3rd to the 20th century. The items on display are Ticosa once stood. It used to be the biggest dyeing and rotated every six months. printing factory of its day occupying 87,000 square metres, part of which remains empty, awaiting a new role. ITINERARY 5 ITINERARY PONTE WORKERS VILLAGE LOMAZZO WORKERS VILLAGE (COMONEXT)

Ponte Lambro is the best preserved workers village A noteworthy example of industrial archaeology is in the environs of Como. Founded by the Romans the former Somaini cotton mill in Lomazzo, a late and situated along the Lambro River among the 19th century emblem of the local textile tradition, peaks of the Larian Triangle, during the industrial that has been transformed through an intelligent age it hosted silk and paper mills, along with a renovation into the ComoNExT Science and major cotton mill that determined its present form. Technology Pak. It houses 125 innovative companies, Following an itinerary mapped out by information a third of which are start-ups, occupying an area of points, visitors can explore the homes of the mill about 20,000 square meters. In the last century, a workers and administrative staff, as well as the villa workers village grew up around the cotton mill, with of the owners. The scenic Sass Tavarac offers a homes for laborers, administrators, schools and spectacular view of the entire complex. other structures still partly visible,

ITINERARY 5 - THE SILK ROAD ITINERARY 6 • ALESSANDRO VOLTA: HIGHLIGHTS TEMPIO VOLTIANO

“The battery is the basis of all modern inventions,” declared Albert Einstein in 1933, on his trip to Lake Como to visit the Tempio Voltiano. The monument is in the Palladian style, designed by the architect Federico Frigerio and financed by industrialist . It was built in 1927 on the occasion of the centennial of Alessandro Volta’s death, which brought 12 Nobel laureates to Como, as well as six others who would later win the prize. Their names are inscribed

ALESSANDRO VOLTA: HIGHLIGHTS VOLTA: ALESSANDRO in the hall of the Istituto Carducci (one of the hidden treasures of Como), which hosted the congress and was henceforth known as the Sala dei Nobel. The only scientific celebrity of the era who was not in attendance was the father of the Theory of Relativity, due to his opposition to Fascism. But in 1933 he made his pilgrimage to the monument to the Como physicist, who, in 1799, invented the battery, the first static generator of electrical energy (it is no accident that “volt” is the term for the unit of measurement for electric potential). In 1776 he also discovered methane gas, which he used to develop the “Volta lamp” and the “electrophlogopneumatic gun,” ancestors of gas lighting and the disposable lighter. All of this and more is commemorated

ITINERARY 6 ITINERARY in the Tempio Voltiano, where scientific instruments and Volta’s memorabilia are displayed. Some of them are copies, as the originals were destroyed in a fire that devasted the previous pavillon built for the 1899 Celebration. THE NATIVE HOUSE VOLTA LIGHTHOUSE

THE NATIVE HOUSE V O LT A LIGHTHOUSE

Hundreds of Italian cities and towns boast a street On the mountaintop overlooking the village of dedicated to Alessandro Volta. But in , Brunate, where Alessandro Volta spent the first one of the most beautiful villages of the Upper Lake, three years of his life, there is a lighthouse that was Via Volta has a special meaning. It was at number 2 dedicated to him on the occasion of the centenary Via Volta that the scientist spent important moments of his death, in 1927. Originally proposed in 1899 by of his life, as commemorated by a plaque affixed Don Luigi Guanella (canonized in 2011), it is located there by the town on the centenary of his 1899 death. at 909 meters above sea level; at 29 meters high, As a boy he spent his summer holidays here; it was it emits red, white and green light – the colors of also here that he and his friend Cesare Gattoni began the Italian flag – that can be seen up to 40km their lifelong debate over the souls of animals (Volta away. Below the lantern is a balcony which can be believed they have one). In 1794, he chose to spend reached by climbing 143 steps, and from which you his honeymoon with Teresa Peregrini here. can enjoy an exceptional view encompassing Lake Como, Milan and the Alps.

ALESSANDRO VOLTA: HIGHLIGHTS VOLTA: ALESSANDRO GRAVEDONA CAMNAGO VOLTA HOUSE OF VOLTA THE HOUSE OF VOLTA MAUSOLEUM AT IN GRAVEDONA CAMNAGO VOLTA

Hundreds of Italian cities and towns boast a street Since 1863, a parish of Como (and a municipality dedicated to Alessandro Volta. But in Gravedona, unto itself until 1943) has borne the name of the in- one of the most beautiful villages of the Upper ventor of the battery - Camnago Volta. Here you will Lake, Via Volta has a special meaning. It was at find one of the scientist’s favorite homes, where he number 2 Via Volta that the scientist spent important experimented as a child in the surrounding nature, moments of his life, as commemorated by a and almost drowned at the age of seven in the ne- ITINERARY 6 ITINERARY plaque affixed there by the town on the centenary arby Monteverde spring while looking for the gold of his death (1899). As a boy he spent his summer dust shown to him by local peasants. In 1831, four holidays here and his friend Cesare Gattoni began years after his death, Volta’s mortal remains were their lifelong debate over the souls of animals (Volta transferred to Camnago and placed in a Neoclassi- believed they have one). In 1794, he chose to spend cal mausoleum. Nearby is “Volta’s Walk,” a delightful his honeymoon here with Teresa Peregrini. trail through the countryside

ITINERARY 6 - ALESSANDRO VOLTA: HIGHLIGHTS ITINERARY 7 • FILM LOCATION AND FILM MAKING ALFRED HITCHCOCK COMACINA ISLAND/

Lake Como is a favorite location for filmmakers. Its shores have been the setting for more than 100 international films, featuring the talents of a broad range of producers / directors, from the Lumière Brothers to George Clooney, certainly the lake’s most famous enthusiast in recent years. However, long before, another cinematic legend frequented these shores for almost half a century, Alfred Hitchcock. the master of suspense first arrived in the winter of 1924 as assistant

FILM LOCATION AND FILM MAKING FILM LOCATION director to Graham Cutts, looking for a location for the filmThe Prude’s Fall. It wasn’t possible to shoot because of bad weather, but “Hitch” fell in love with the area and the following summer returned to shoot the honeymoon scenes of his first film, The Pleasure Garden. He chose three locations of which he remained fond throughout his life: Villa d’Este in Cernobbio; Comacina Island; and the Nesso Gorge, where an ancient stone bridge called the Civera connects two banks split by a waterfall (interestingly Leonardo da Vinci once came to study the structure). In December 1926, Hitchcock was back on Lake Como for another honeymoon, this time his own, with Alma Reville, who had been with him in Como the previous year as part of the film

ITINERARY 7 ITINERARY crew. They remained married until the director’s death in 1980. The former owners of the inn on Comacina Island are the proud possessors of some photos taken by Hitchcock and of the Polaroid he sent them as a gift after his last visit in 1972. LUCHINO VISCONTI JAMES BOND

LUCHINO VISCONTI JAMES BOND () (VILLA LA GAETA)

At Villa Erba in Cernobbio you can visit the small Agent 007 has a strong “bond” with Lake Como. museum The Rooms of Luchino Visconti, with the Forged first on paper, in John Gardner’s novel Never original furnishings from when they were inhabited Send Flowers (1993), where James meets his boss, M, by the director of such masterpieces as Senso and at Villa d’Este, it continued in Martin Campbell’s 2006 Il Gattopardo. Here Visconti (1906-1976) spent his film Casino Royale, in which the secret agent played summers until 1929 and later in life hosted friends by Daniel Craig spends a period of convalescence at such as Franco Zeffirelli, Helmut Berger and Alain Lenno’s Villa del Balbianello. Then in the final scene Delon. While he completed the work on Ludwig he tracks down the villainous Mr. White to his castle, (1973) in the former stables and drew inspiration actually the Villa La Gaeta in San Siro, a manor built for the sets of many films, he only shot one scene in the 1920s in an eclectic style. on Lake Como, in Bellagio, for Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960).

STAR WARS GEORGE CLOONEY FILM LOCATION AND FILM MAKING FILM LOCATION STAR WARS GEORGE CLOONEY (VILLA DEL BALBIANELLO) (VILLA OLEANDRA)

One of Hollywood’s favorite sets on Lake Como is George Clooney’s love for Lake Como blossomed Villa del Balbianello in Lenno, thanks in part to its in 2002, when he bought the 19th century Villa spectacular position at the end of the promontory of Oleandra in , a town of which he has been Lavedo. Left by its last owner, the count and explorer an honorary citizen since 2004. He later acquired Guido Monzino, to the Italian Environmental Fund two adjacent properties, connected to the first (FAI), the villa is open to visitors. The best-known by bridges that cross the Via Regina and a beach.

ITINERARY 7 ITINERARY film shot there is Star Wars: Episode II. The Attack Clooney has hosted many stars at Villa Oleandra, of Clones (2002). Numerous Stars Wars fans have including some of his fellow cast members (Julia chosen to get married here, dressed up as their Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine ZetaJones) heroes. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and from Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Twelve, shot partly Padmè Amidala (Natalie Portman) in the film. on Lake Como, mostly at Villa Erba. He also hosted Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Duchess of Sussex just three months after their wedding.

ITINERARY 7 - FILM LOCATION AND FILM MAKING ITINERARY 8 • TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS COMO - BRUNATE RIDGE OF THE LARIAN TRIANGLE

One of Italy’s most beautiful trekking routes starts in the city of Como. Just a kilometer from the historic center is the departure point of the San Donato climb, a mule track with alternating

TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS stretches of stone steps and packed earth built in 1817. It takes an hour or so to reach Brunate, a town known as the “Balcony of the Alps,” 700 meters above sea level. From Brunate another series of trails leads to Cao (1,000 meters, about a 45 minute walk) and the ridge of the Larian Triangle, listed among the routes of national interest by the Italian Alpine Club and marked by arrows adorned with the Italian flag bearing the number 1; these markers distinguish the main route from the many secondary trails that branch off to the side. The most spectacular feature of this itinerary, which winds its way along cart tracks and paths at an average altitude of 1,200 meters and is also accessible to families, is the double panorama it offers – while the climb to ITINERARY 8 ITINERARY Brunate and then to Cao provides a spectacular view of the first basin of Lake Como, proceeding along the Dorsale you gradually discover the second and third basins on the left, while on the right stretches the plain, dotted with five smaller lakes of glacial origin (, , Segrino, and Annone). The complete itinerary is 33 km long and ends in Bellagio, where there’s a ferry that goes back to Como. But you can also do shorter hikes, perhaps taking the opportunity to stop and eat in one of the lodges along the trail. KM DELLA PUSIANO CONOSCENZA LAKE

CHILOMETRO THE BRIANTEI DELLA CONOSCENZA LAKES

The parks of three historic villas, built between Between the two “legs” of Lake Como (seen the 16th and 19th centuries (Olmo, Grumello and from above, it resembles a human figure) is the Sucota), have been connected to create a trail northernmost part of Brianza, characterized by five of great botanical, landscape and even cultural small lakes of glacial origin: Montorfano, Alserio, interest. Indeed, culture is the main activity to Segrino, Pusiano and Annone. All have wonderful which the owners (Municipality of Como, Villa del walking trails along their shores, Lake Segrino is Grumello Association and Antonio Ratti Foundation) entirely surrounded by a 5-km bike path, while from have dedicated the properties. The “Kilometer of Pusiano you can take an electric boat to Cypress Knowledge,” as this oasis of greenery is called, can Island, which wrote about. Among the be easily reached on foot from the center of Como the other authors who found inspiration in the

TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS using the western lakeside promenade. area: Fogazzaro, Nievo, Gadda, Pontiggia and Scerbanenco.

GREENWAY THE QUEEN’S ROADS GREENWAY CAMMINI DELLA REGINA (THE QUEEN’S ROADS)

A 11.2-km trail connecting the villages of , Sala From the western shore of Lake Como passes ITINERARY 8 ITINERARY Comacina, Ossuccio, Lenno, , Tremezzo and an important European religious route, the Via . This is the Greenway of Lake Como, which Francigena Renana. The Como part coincides with passes partly through the towns and partly along the the ancient Via Regina, of Roman origin, used as a water’s edge in a route largely corresponding to the Jubilee route in 1500 and recently redeveloped. We ancient Via Regina. Highlights include the stretch near recommend the stretch from to Santa Ossuccio featuring the little Romanesque church of Maria Rezzonico, where among unspoiled nature, San Giacomo, with its gabled bell tower, and the part panoramic views and testimonies of faith, you can that goes from the village of Campo to the shore of still savor the atmosphere that, in 1790, enchanted Lenno. Past the beach, on the right, you’ll find a gate the English romantic poet , who that is always open, which leads to a grove of plane celebrated the area in his verses and letters. trees overlooking the Gulf of Venus, among the most beautiful spots on the lake.

ITINERARY 8 - TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS PIONA ABBEY NATURAL RESERVE

PIONA ABBEY PIAN DI SPAGNA AND MEZZOLA LAKE NATURAL RESERVE

At the extreme north of Lake Como is the To the north of Lake Como lies a vast alluvial plain, peninsula, traversed by a trail that overlooks the lake, known today as the Pian di Spagna and Lake the surrounding mountains, and a charming inlet. Mezzola Nature Reserve, characterized by reed The point of greatest interest is the Abbey of Piona. marshes in which various species of birds nest. Dating back to 616 AD, it was expanded in 1154 by Until the , the lake of Mezzola was Cluniac monks and dedicated to St. Nicholas. The contiguous with Lake Como. Along its western Romanesque structure has been revisited over shore stands the temple of San Fedelino, built in the centuries and contains a cloister built in 1252. the 9th century at the point where the remains of Since 1938, it has been run by the Cistercian order. the martyre San Fedele were found. The name “Pian CAMMINATE E TREKKING CAMMINATE According to Leonardo da Vinci scholar Ernesto di Spagna”, or “Spanish Plain”, survives from the Solari, it is the landscape of Piona that appears in the Spanish domination in the 16th and 17th centuries, background of The Last Supper. which resulted in the fortification of this area.

ARGEGNO- THE BALCONY OF ITALY -PIGRA THE BALCONY FUNICULAR OF ITALY

It’s just four minutes from the banks of the lake to At 1,302 meters above sea level is one of the the adjacent mountaintop, covering a difference in most spectacular panoramic points of Como - the ITINERARY 8 ITINERARY altitude of 648 meters. This is the engineering marvel , known as “The Balcony of Italy.” It can that is the Argegno-Pigra cableway, the second be reached by car or by a trekking trail that ascends steepest in Italy, which has been performing since from the village of Lanzo Intelvi (877 meters) along 1971. Its 12-seater cabins offer breathtaking views a relatively gentle incline. At the top, there is a during then short ride. At the point of arrival is a small panoramic terrace that overlooks the Swiss side. plateau that hosts the medieval village of Pigra - The view extends from Lake , a 1000 meters current population 250. The most charming spot is below, to the Alps. The Sighignola is the jewel in the square of San Rocco, surrounded by 18th-century the crown of the Val d’Intelvi, rich in itineraries that buildings with exceptional stucco decorations. From alternate between unspoiled nature and historic Pigra there are trekking routes towards Monte villages. Galbiga and the Alps of Colonno and Tellero.

ITINERARY 8 - TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS ITINERARY 9 • CELEBRITIES PLINY THE ELDER AND PLINY THE YOUNGER CELEBRITIES

There are not many cities where two pagans flank the main portal of the cathedral. Como, however, is a notable exception with two pagans depicted on either side of the main portal of the Duomo. This honor was given to Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), author of the oldest surviving encyclopedia, the Naturalis Historia, and his nephew Pliny the Younger (61-c.113 AD), to whom ITINERARY 9 9 ITINERARY we owe one of the most famous epistolaries of the Classical age (and who, ironically, as governor of Bithynia sent several Christians to their deaths, applying the law despite his own objection to it). Both natives of Como, their presence is perceptible in various parts of the city. In the nearby Teatro Sociale, the historic velarium, painted in 1813 by Alessandro Sanquirico, set designer of La Scala, portrays the scene of Pliny the Elder’s death on the beach of Stabia. There he suffocated by the ash from Vesuvius that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, while he was studying the eruption closely and bringing relief to people in need. In Viale , you can visit the remains of the Roman Baths of Como, the construction of which is thought to be connected to the testamentary bequest of Pliny the Younger to his native city. In the Civic Museums in Piazza Medaglie d’Oro there is a large Roman section and a small botanical garden of essences mentioned in the Naturalis Historia. Finally, in the vicinity of , you can see the busts of both men, along with other famous Como residents, on the facade of the Liceo Classico A.Volta, next to which there is the door that leads to the archaeological site of Porta Pretoria, the main access road to Como in the Romane era. UGO FOSCOLO HERMANN HESSE

UGO FOSCOLO HERMANN HESSE

CELEBRITIES Ugo Foscolo (Zakynthos 1778 - London 1827), one “Walk Along Lake Como,” a text of 1913 from the of Italy’s greatest poets, frequented Lake Como. volume Wandering Italy, can be used as guide to He made friends with the physicist Alessandro follow the footsteps of Hermann Hesse. The Nobel Volta and the humanist Giovan Battista Giovio, of laureate (1946) fell in love upon first seeing Como’s whom he was often a guest, and ended up falling lake and historic center, in which he found a tasteful, in love with his youngest daughter, Franceschina. reserved beauty. His romantic spirit struggled to A bust of Foscolo stands in the park of one of the come to terms with the grand villas of the Brunate Giovio family villas, known as Il Grumello, cited in mountain and the shore. But a boat trip made him the poet’s farewell letter to his beloved: “Finding change his mind. When he came upon the village myself one evening at Grumello, and looking at the of Torno, he found it so enchanting that he didn’t lake, the hills, and the house where I saw you for the dare set foot on the ground, disembarking instead first time [...] my desire to dwell there forever did not at , where he climbed the winding stone distinguish you from the place itself.” streets up to the church. ITINERARY 9 9 ITINERARY

SEGANTINI ALDA MERINI GIOVANNI ALDA MERINI SEGANTINI

Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899), a leading exponent Alda Merini (Milan, 1931-2009), the most famous of Divisionism, lived and painted for several years Italian poetess of the 20th century, originated from (1881-1886) in the , in Pusiano, Como. “My father, a very refined intellectual, son of and . The latter, a village at 800 a count of Como and a woman of modest means meters above sea level that has largely maintained from Brunate, had very noble traits.” This is how her its 19th-century features, has dedicated an open-air autobiography, Reato di vita (Crime of Life) opens. museum to Segantini that invites visitors to walk Her grandparents got to know each other thanks to through the countryside dotted with reproductions the mule track of San Donato that was built in 1817 to of 15 of his works. Some of the landscapes in the connect Como with Brunate and its mountain above, Brianza area of Como are recognizable: Ave Maria a and which has been rediscovered as a trekking route, trasbordo (Lake Pusiano), A messa prima (church of completed with a little free library. As a salute to ) and Alla stanga, painted in Caglio. Merini’s memory, the International Literature Award of Brunate was instituted and dedicated to her.

ITINERARY 9 - CELEBRITIES FRANZ LISZT

CELEBRITIES “The city of Como commemorates the stay of Franz Liszt For Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835), Lake Como was and Marie d’Agoult at the Albergo Dell’Angelo [...] where his main source of inspiration from 1827 to 1834. He his daughter Cosima was born on 24 December 1837, spent long periods at Moltrasio as a guest at Villa then married to ,” recites a plaque on the Passalacqua and at Villa Salterio. On the outside east side of Piazza Cavour. Cosima was baptized in the of the latter is a plaque commemorating the great nearby Duomo. The couple spent six months between composer, while there is a monument dedicated to Como, where Liszt performed at the Teatro Sociale, and him on the lakefront. It was at Villa Salterio that he Bellagio, as guests at the Villa Melzi d’Eril. “When you pursued his clandestine relationship with Giuditta write the story of two happy lovers, let it be set on the Cantù, who ended up being repudiated by her banks of Lake Como. I do not know of any place which is husband. Subsequently, she was left by Bellini, who more demonstrably blessed by heaven; I have never seen went on a world tour with another Giuditta, surname another where the charms of a life of love can appear Pasta, his favorite singer, whom he also met on Lake more natural,” wrote the great Hungarian musician. Como. ITINERARY 9 9 ITINERARY

GIUDITTA BRUCE PASTA SPRINGSTEEN

The life of (1797-1865), a famous opera Lake Como is also very popular with contemporary singer, was inextricably tied to Lake Como. For many, musical artists. and Elton John were guests years she lived in Villa Roccabruna in Blevio, where of Versace at in Moltrasio, Matthew she now rests in the local cemetery. On the lake, Bellamy of Muse lived in the same town and set up a she had a fruitful creative exchange with Vincenzo recording studio at Villa Salterio, where two centuries Bellini, who stayed in Moltrasio where he composed earlier Vincenzo Bellini had composed some of his La straniera and La sonnambula for her. A special greatest works. Jhon Legend and Chrissy Teigen room in Como’s Teatro Sociale, where portraits and married at Villa Pizzo in Cernobbio in 2013 and, since memorabilia of the singer are displayed, is called the then, often come to friends on the lake . But perhaps Sala Pasta. She helped finance the revolt against the Bruce Springsteen is the rocker most fond of the lake. Austrians in 1848, at the end of which she climbed Since 1999 he has been vacationing regularly at Villa the mountain of Brunate to sing the “Canto degli d’Este in Cernobbio, and never misses a chance to italiani.” shop in Como’s silk boutiques with his wife Patti Scialfa.

ITINERARY 9 - CELEBRITIES ITINERARY 10 • HISTORY

HISTORY CASTEL BARADELLO AND THE SPINA VERDE PARK

The skyline of Como is characterized to the southwest by the hills that make up the Spina Verde Park, a protected area of not only great naturalistic, but historical and archaeological interest as well. Two landmarks stand out in particular. The first is Castel Baradello, a fortress rebuilt in 1158

ITINERARY 10 ITINERARY by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, to whom we also owe the expansion of the original Roman ramparts to form the walls that surround the present-day center of town. The outermost wall surrounding the castle’s tower, however, is Byzantine and reminds us the hill was a veritable citadel, where the people of Como would flee in the event of a siege. In 1825, at the foot of the castle, a neo-Gothic tower was built by the owners, after which the entire complex was inherited by the Municipality of Como, which installed a small museum and opened the Baradello to visitors. The second landmark is the cross at the top of the “mountain” of the same name. It is illuminated every night to commemorate Eutichio, a hermit bishop who died in 539 AD on that site where he habitually retreated in prayer. Around these two monuments runs a dense network of trails that allow visitors to take brief trips back in time: from the ruins of the villages of the Golasecca civilization (9th-4th century BC), to the source of the Mojenca (site of Celtic winter solstice rites), to the trenches of World War I. Spina Verde was also the site of Comum Oppidum, an Iron Age settlement conquered by the Romans under Appius Claudius Marcellus in 196 BC. It wasn’t until 59 BC that founded the present city, naming it Novum Comum. CIVIC MUSEUMS THE ART GALLERY

THE CIVIC MUSEUMS THE ART GALLERY

STORIA OF COMO HISTORY

Three thousand years of Como’s history are There is more of Como’s history to be discovered in documented in the Musei Civici in Piazza Medaglie the Pinacoteca Civica. From the medieval frescoes that d’Oro. The archeological museum conserves various once adorned the walls of churches and monasteries relics from the Golasecca civilization that occupied that no longer exist for the most part, the collection the hills around Como during the first millennium extends to the archive of Antonio Sant’Elia. He was BC. In the Roman section, among inscriptions the author of the 1914 Manifesto of Futurist Architecture and fragments of columns and statues, is a small and designer of the illustrations for Città Nuova, which botanical garden that hosts the living plants cited were the source of inspiration for the set design of the by Como native Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis filmBlade Runner. In between are various portraits (the Historia, the first encyclopedia ever compiled. collection of was copied by the Medici The adjacent Museo Garibaldi is dedicated to the for the Uffizi in Florence) and 19th-century landscapes. Risorgimento, during which Como played a key role Among the latter, Francesco Capiaghi’s painting of the ITINERARY 10 ITINERARY in the Unification of Italy. Austrians surrendering to Como in 1848.

THE DONGO, THE WAR MUSEUM THE CADORNA LINE DONGO AND WWI TRENCHES THE WAR MUSEUM

In 1917, Italy was concerned that Germany might It was on the shores of Lake Como that the World violate Swiss neutrality and launch a surprise attack. War II ended for Italy. On April 27, 1945, at about 4 Consequently, the northern border was fortified p.m., was discovered by partisans along the so-called Cadorna Line, named after trying to escape on a German truck. The next day the general at the helm of the Italian armed forces. the dictator was shot along with his partner Claretta The 72 kilometers of trenches and fortifications Petacci at the gate of Villa De Maria in di were built by local citizens, including women and Mezzegra, while 15 Fascist leaders suffered the same children. Several points surrounding Lake Como fate on the lakefront of Dongo. The town is now home have been restored: Spina Verde; Cardina; Mount to the End of the War Museum, the starting point of Bisbino; and Val d’Intelvi. Fort Montecchio di four thematic routes that wind along the western is considered the best preserved WWI fortress in shore of Lake Como. Europe.

ITINERARY 10 - HISTORY THE LIFE ELECTRIC THE LIFE ELECTRIC Two symbols of Como, one more than a century old and the other extremely modern, can be admired from the lakeside as well as from the Vista Palazzo and Albergo Terminus: the breakwater, built in 1870, and the monument The Life Electric by the archistar Daniel Libeskind, inaugurated in 2015 at the centre of the circular plinth that terminates the breakwater itself. In the 19th century, when the old harbour of Como was filled in to make way for Piazza Cavour, in front of which a new harbour was built for the lake’s steamers, it became necessary to build a barrier to protect the shoreline from the waves. The breakwater was not physically connected to the mainland until 1965, when the railway sidings of the lakeside gardens were closed down. But it was only in the 80s that it felt truly connected, with its 340-metre length that created the lake’s first lagoon, now one of the city’s most romantic places for a stroll. And that connection was further enhanced when, on the occasion of Expo 2015, it was commissioned to Libeskind to create a monument dedicated to Alessandro Volta for the 260th anniversary of his birth. The American archistar, similar to what he had done in setting out the master plan for Ground Zero in , conceived a structure that would connect the city’s past to its future, under the banner of energy. The idea that inspired The Life Electric is the tension generated between the two poles of a battery, Volta’s great gift to mankind. The monument is about 14 metres high and consists of sinusoids of tempered steel, which call to mind the initials of the Como-born inventor and generate a mirror effect that integrates the work into its surroundings. Appropriately, it is linked to two other important Volta monuments, built in 1927: the Lighthouse at the top of the Brunate mountain and the nearby Tempio Voltiano or Voltian Temple. Lago di Villas and Mansions Mezzola 2. Villa Carlotta - Tremezzo 6 3. Villa del Balbianello - Lenno 4. Villa Melzi d’Eril - Bellagio Pian di Spagna 5. Villa Vigoni - Loveno di Menaggio 6. Villa Serbelloni - Bellagio LECCO 7. Villa Monastero - Varenna 8. Villa Pliniana - Torno 6 Sorico Rationalism 7. Villa Leoni - Ossuccio 8. Houses for Artists -

2 Lago di Annone The Silk Road POINT OF INTEREST 5 3. Ponte Lambro - Workers Village Piona Alessandro Volta - Highlights 2. Volta Lighthouse 3 3.The house of Volta - Gravedona Gravedona Varenna 7 4 Film Location and Film Making L A G O D I C O M O C - Afred Hitchcock - Nesso Dongo Bellagio 2 2 1. Luchino Visconti - Cernobbio 5 2. James Bond - San Siro 6 Lago del Segrino Lago di Pusiano 4 4 3. Guerre Stellari - Lenno Acquaseria 4. George Clooney - Laglio 2 3 5 2 T Erba Caglio 3 V Trekking and Sidewalks Menaggio Tremezzo T - Ridge of the Larian Triangle Ponte Lambro 2 2. The Briantei Lakes LAKE COMO MAP LAKE COMO 3 Monte Lago di Alserio 3. Greenway 4. The Queen’s Roads 3 San Primo Lenno 5. Piona Abbey 7 6. Pian di Spagna - Mezzola 7. Argegno - Pigra - Funicular Isola 8 Comacina Nesso Celebrities Colonno 3 C P - Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger - Como 2. Hermann Hesse - Torno 8 3. Segantini - Caglio 4 Torno 2 4. Alda Merini - Brunate 7 2 Argegno Laglio Lago di Montorfano 5. Franz Liszt - Bellagio 6. Vincenzo Bellini - Moltrasio 7. Giuditta Pasta - Blevio 7 Blevio 4 2 8. Bruce Springsteen - Cernobbio 6 1 Brunate History ugano Moltrasio P 4. Dongo, the War Museum 8 SVIZZERA B Cernobbio COMO Lago di L 8

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Classic Como Villas and Mansions V - Vista Palazzo F - Hotel Villa Flori 1. The Cathedral 1. Villa Olmo Navigazione Civiglio 2. Teatro Sociale 6 Cernobbio 3. San Fedele 5 4. Sant’Abbondio 1

3 Rationalism P - Posta Design Hotel 2 4 Camnago Volta Art Nuoveau 1. Casa del Fascio 1 T - Albergo Terminus 2. Kindergarden Antonio Sant’elia Brunate 1. Villa Bernasconi - Cernobbio 3. The War Memorial POINT OF INTEREST Cernobbio 2. Funicolar 4. Lario Rowing Club 3.The Art Nouveau 5. Novocomum e Garzola t Road of Brunate 6. Casa Cattaneo - Cernobbio Navigazione 4. Concordia Tavernola omo - Bruna SD e C

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unic F History The Silk Road B - Castel Baradello M - Silk Museum of Como 1. The Civic Museums 1. Villa Sucota - FAR F 2 2. The Art Gallery of Como 2. Cernobbio - Industrial 3. The Cadorna Line Stazione Pullman archaeology and WWI Trenches 1 Stazione Treni Nord Como Lago T 2 COMO CITY MAP COMO 4 1 Stazione Treni M 1 V Nord Como Borghi LAGO DI COMO P Celebrities 4 3 1 Alessandro Volta - Highlights V - Tempio Voltiano P - Pliny the Elder and 1 1. The native house Pliny the younger Navigazione V 2. Volta Lighthouse 1. Ugo Foscolo - Villa del Grumello Piazza Cavour P 2 4. Life Electric 4. Alda Merini - Brunate 3 3 5. Alessandro Volta's tomb 8. Bruce Springsteen - Cernobbio 1 1 4 5 1 2 Hangar Film Location and Film Making Trekking and Sidewalks Idrovolanti 1. Luchino Visconti SD - San Donato Climb 4 Villa Erba - Cernobbio and Ridge of the Larian Triangle Stazione Treni 1. Chilometro della Conoscenza FFSS Como San Giovanni B ITINERARIES

ITINERARY 1 ITINERARY 6 CLASSIC COMO ALESSANDRO VOLTA - HIGHLIGHTS Palazzo Venezia - Vista Palazzo | lago di Como Tempio Voltiano / The Native House / Volta The Cathedral / Sant’Abbondio / San Fedele / Lighthouse/ The House Of Volta In Gravedona / Teatro Sociale Mausoleum at Camnago Volta

ITINERARY 2 ITINERARY 7 VILLAS AND MANSIONS FILM LOCATION AND FILM MAKING CREDITS Hotel Villa Flori / Villa Olmo / Villa Carlotta / Villa Hitchcock / Luchino Visconti / James Bond / del Balbianello / Villa Melzi d’Eril / Villa Vigoni / Guerre Stellari / George Clooney Villa Serbelloni / Villa Monastero / Villa Pliniana ITINERARY 8 ITINERARY 3 Text: Pietro Berra TREKKING AND SIDEWALKS Como - Ridge of the Larian Triangle / Chilometro Publishing Project: Pietro Berra, Daniela Manili Pessina, Mirna Ortiz Lopez ART NOUVEAU Albergo Terminus / Funicular Como-Brunate / The della Conoscenza / The Briantei Lakes / Greenway Graphic Design: Matilde Tacchini Art Nouveau Road of Brunate / Villa Bernasconi / / The Queen’s Roads / Piona Abbey Concordia steamer / Pian di Spagna and Mezzola Lake Natural Reserve / Argegno-Pigra Funicular / The Balcony Photography credits: of Italy Museum and Foundation Archives: Villa Vigoni - © Villa Vigoni Archive, Villa Leoni - © Villa Leoni Archive, ITINERARY 4 Villa Pliniana - © Filippo Naymiller and Filippo Campi, “Veduta della Pliniana sul Lago di Como”, 1810, RATIONALISM IN COMO Villa Serbelloni - by Wetzel, Johann Jakob and Kälin, Joseph Meinrad, Public Domain, Villa Sucota - FAR Hotel Posta / Casa del Fascio / The War ITINERARY 9 - © Antonio Ratti Foundation Archive, Hermann Hesse - © Hermann Hesse Museum - Montagnola, Pian di Memorial / Novocomum / Kindergarden CELEBRITIES Spagna Nature Reserve - © Pian di Spagna and Lake Mezzola Nature Reserve Archive, Dongo Museum - © Antonio Sant’Elia / Casa Cattaneo / Lario Rowing Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger / Ugo Archive of the Dongo End of the War Museum - Francesco Capiaghi, Il vecchio mercato del grano in piazza Club / Villa Leoni / Houses for Artists Foscolo / Hermann Hesse / Giovanni Segantini San Fedele (Como), olio su tela, 1800, 2^ metà, inv. P224 © Pinacoteca Civica Como - © Portrait of Giovanni / Alda Merini / Franz Liszt / Vincenzo Bellini / Segantini from the book by E. Bermani, “Commemorazione di Giovanni Segantini”, 1899, Alda Merini - by ITINERARY 5 Giuditta Pasta / Bruce Springsteen Giuliano Grittini - CC BY-SA 3.0, Abbazia di Piona - by Mattana - CC BY-SA 3.0. Film tourism: Alfred Hitchcock THE SILK ROAD (The Pleasure Garden, 1925 © ITV plc) / Luchino Visconti - © Guido Taroni / James Bond (frame from the The Silk Museum of Como / Villa Sucota - FAR / ITINERARY 10 film “Casino Royale”) / Guerre Stellari (frame from the film “Star Wars: Episode II. Attack of the Clones”) / Industrial archaeology / Ponte Lambro / Lomazzo HISTORY George Clooney (frame from the film “Ocean’s Twelve”). Other credits: Ph. Mirna Ortiz Lopez (View of the (Como Next) Castel Baradello and the Spina Verde Park / The Lake of Brunate - Greenaway / Plane tree beach – The Queen’s Walks / Sanctuary of Nobiallo - Ugo Foscolo Civic Museums/ The Art Gallery of Como / The –Lake Pusiano), Ph. Pietro Berra (The Cardina Trenches and the Cadorna Line, Houses for Artists on the Isola Cadorna Line and WWI Trenches / Dongo the War Comacina) - Ph. Sergio Ferri (View of the Duomo from the lake / Duomo / Teatro Sociale / Voltian Temple Museum / Casa del Fascio). Ph. Daniela Manili Pessina (where not specified)

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