In the city of Como, at the southern tip of Lake Como in northern Italy

 The city of Como offers a rich blend of history, culture, and architecture, as well as stunning natural scenery and gardens.

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(in a charming city on the shores of Lake Como, one of the most romantic lakes in Europe.) Its namesake lake is the major draw for aristocratic Como, where waterside gardens and palatial villas flourish in abundance. Long a playground for the wealthy, this city attracts a mix of tourists and Milanese fashionistas who plan trips across the lake region or to nearby Bellagio.

+ The city’s name was part of the term maestri comacini (“masters of Como”), applied to itinerant guilds of masons, architects, and decorators who spread the Lombard style throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. Their brick or brick-cut stone-faced walls, mortar, and other accomplishments are still visible in buildings more than a thousand years old. from Catalonia to Germany. The city itself centers on the modern Piazza Cavour, which opens onto the lake and divides the lakeside promenade into eastern and western sections. Notable landmarks include the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore (14th–18th century), the Broletto, or Communal Tower (1215), the former City Hall; and the Church of Sant’ Abbondio. Two of the oldest buildings are the Church of San Carpoforo, and the 12th-century Basilica of San Fedele. Several towers of the old fortifications survive, notably the Tower of Porta Vittoria. The civic museum has archaeological collections, and there is also a museum of the Risorgimento (the 19th-century movement for Italian political unity).

+ Sitting in a lush basin at the southern tip of Lake Como, this is a self-confident and historic town that was established by Julius Caesar as an Alpine garrison and Roman holiday resort in the 1st century BCE. The Philosophers Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were born here, and Virgil (the Roman poet) thought Como, with its narrow profile and soaring Alpine amphitheater, the greatest Italian lake. The town’s medieval watchtowers were built by Frederick Barbarossa and its three impressive Romanesque basilicas rise from the remains of once-rich convents and are layered with priceless artworks.

+ Printing is an ancient art in Como, where Baldassare di Fossato printed the Opus statutorum (“Book of Laws”) of Alberico da Rosate in 1477 and the Vita di S. Giovanni de Capistrano (“Life of St. John of Capistrano”) in 1479. The two Plinys (Roman scholars) were born at Comum, and the physicist Alessandro Volta is commemorated by the Voltiano Temple.

+ A rail junction and tourist center, Como is also noted for its old established silk industry. (It is the site of the National Institute of Silk, with large workshops and laboratories and vocational-training facilities.) You can explore the medieval heart of the city, admire the Romanesque and Gothic churches, visit the museum dedicated to Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the battery, or enjoy a boat trip to discover the lake and its villas.