Como Lake

Bright and sparkling in the sun, haunting and mysterious in the rain: this is the secret of the pull Lake Como has always had on its visitors. Crystal-clear waters, the green plains of Brianza crossed by the Adda and Lambro rivers, and a harmonious mix of towering peaks and gentle hills make this glacial lake, the deepest in Italy, a true paradise.

Oaks and chestnuts cover the hills, firs, larches and mountain pines grow higher up, and junipers and rhododendrons grow toward the highest peaks.

The lake has three branches: the Como branch to the southwest, the Lecco branch to the southeast and the Colico branch to the north. Besides Como and Lecco, Cernobbio, Bellagio, Tremezzo, Menaggio, Colico, Dervio and Varenna are well worth a visit.

The lake is ringed by small villages perched on the mountainsides, and everywhere you look there is fine architecture and art: abbeys and basilicas, villas and gardens with a long history, parks and nature reserves. Ancient settlements, fortifications and ramparts, museums and churches add up to a fascinating whole, rich in history, faith, culture and art.

Inhabited since the Bronze Age, the area was ruled by the Gauls, who built castles and fortifications, and then by the Romans, who named it Larius (Lario). Two famous natives of Como who lived in the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger, bore witness to the growing wealth of the town, which had become one of the main trade routes between Italy and Central Europe.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, many villas were built as retreats for Italian and foreign nobility. These splendid residences lend the area its elegance and still carry the memory of the people who lived in them: aristocrats, counts, writers and musicians, some of them world famous.

To name just a few: Silvio Pellico stayed at Villa del Balbianello, Liszt strolled along the paths of Villa Melzi in Bellagio, Gioachino Rossini was a guest at Villa Pliniana in Torno, Vincenzo Bellini found a hideaway for love between Villa Salterio and Villa Passalacqua in Moltrasio, and Foscolo found inspiration at Villa Celesia for writing his Graces.

After the unification of Italy, the area enjoyed a period of some prosperity thanks to the growth of the silk and engineering industries. Metalworking is still one of its most typical crafts.

The lake is an ideal place for all kinds of sports: mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding, and thanks to the breva, the thermal wind that blows across the lake, windsurfing, sailing and waterskiing fans have plenty to enjoy.

The local food lets gourmets choose among three different cuisines. First, the cuisine of the lake, built on fish prepared in countless ways. Above all, risotto with perch fillets, the “national dish” of the Lario; fish in carpione, fried and then marinated in vinegar, onion and bay leaf; the mixed fry of lake fish with bleak, agone, burbot, perch fillets and whitefish; and zuppa alla Tremezzina, with pike, small trout, chub, burbot and perch.

And then the “misultitt” (missoltini): agone caught in May and June, dried in the sun and then left to rest under pressure in a mix of salt and bay leaves inside special containers called missolte. They are eaten after a quick turn on the grill, with a drizzle of oil and vinegar, toasted polenta and red wine.

The mountain cuisine, old and frugal, revolves around polenta in its many forms: polenta “vuncia”, with cheese, butter and garlic; “balota”, polenta balls with a cheese center; and “tocc”, polenta made from different flours with butter and cheese. Then there are other dishes, such as “urgiada”, pearl barley cooked over the fire in the smoke of the hearth; “furmentada”, a wheat soup from Val d’Intelvi with pork rind; and “mataloch”.

The cuisine of the plains is also worth trying. It comes from the traditions of Brianza and is dominated by hearty meat dishes: “verzata” (or “cazzoeula”, “casoela”, etc.), busecca or foiolo (tripe), polenta e uccelli, cotecotti with beans, and “rustisciada”, a typical Brianza dish of pork loin and sausage browned with onions.

The desserts, too, have their roots in frugal peasant cooking. Try the “nocciolini” of Canzo; “miascia”, made with stale bread, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, apples or pears, pine nuts and raisins; and masigott from Erba, made with white and buckwheat flour, sugar, butter, eggs, raisins, pine nuts, candied orange and yeast.

The local honey is highly prized, especially chestnut and acacia honey. The area also offers nuts, mushrooms, cured meats (filzette and cacciatorini), chestnuts and a wide range of cheeses, including Casera, Taleggio, ricotta and goat cheeses, as well as excellent butter.

Folk tradition lies behind the festivals and celebrations handed down from one generation to the next, with historical, cultural and religious events.

One of the best known is the “Pesa Vegia” festival, held every year in Bellano over the Christmas holidays. For 400 years, blending the sacred and the profane, it has staged the arrival of the Magi in striking costumes, put on a show with the race of the Pese through the streets of the village and enchanted crowds with a bonfire on the pier.

In Premana, a small mountain village, the locals bring long-lost trades back to life during the event “Premana rivive l'antico”, held in October. Also lovely are the costumed reenactments of medieval Como, the Carnival of Schignano, the Sagra di San Giovanni on Isola Comacina and the Festa del Lago in Varenna.