'Lake Como' (''Lago di Como'' in
Italian, also known as ''Lario'';
Latin: 'Larius Lacus') is a
lake of
glacial origin in
Lombardy,
Italy. It has an area of
146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after
Lake Garda and
Lake Maggiore. At over 400 m deep it is one of the deepest lakes in
Europe and the bottom of the lake is more than 200 m below sea-level.
Geography
The lake is shaped much like the character “Yâ€. The northern branch begins at the town of
Colico, while the towns of
Como and
Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of
Bellagio,
Menaggio and
Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a triangular boat service operates between them.
Lake Como is fed in large part by the
Adda River, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the lake—between Como, Bellagio and Lecco—is known as the
Larian Triangle, or ''Triangolo lariano''. The source of the river
Lambro is here. At the centre of the triangle, the town of
Canzo is the seat of the ''
Comunità montana del Triangolo Lariano'', an association of the 31
municipalities which represent the 71,000 inhabitants of the area.
Name
The lake's name in
Latin is ''Larius'', Italianized as ''Lario'', but this name is rarely used; it is usually called ''Lago di Como'' (literally "Lake of Como"). In guidebooks the lake may be variously described as "Lake Como", "Lake of Como", or "Como Lake."
While the town of Como is referred to as "Como," the lake itself is never referred to solely by this name. (This is not true of another lake in Italy,
Lake Garda, where "Garda" may refer to either a town on its shores, or the lake).
Lakeside villas
The lake is well known for the attractive villas which have been built here since
Pliny the Younger constructed the ''Comedia'' and the ''Tragedia''. Many have admirable gardens which benefit from the mild climate induced by the stabilising presence of 22.5 km³ of lake water and are able to include tropical as well as temperate plants.
Villa Carlotta.
The
Villa Carlotta was built for the
Milanese marchese Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and occupies a site of over 70,000 sqm at
Tremezzo, facing the
Bellagio peninsula. An
Italian garden, with steps, fountains and sculpture was laid out at the same time. The villa was later sold to the banker and Napoleonic politician
Giambattista Sommariva.
Stendhal was his guest in 1818, and his visit is recalled at the start of ''
La Chartreuse de Parme''. In 1843 it was purchased by Princess Marianne of Nassau as a wedding present for her daughter Carlotta, after whom the villa is now named. The latter, together with her husband, Georg II of Saxen-Meiningen laid out the wooded park in the
Romantic style. The villa today includes a museum of agricultural implements as well as important works of sculpture by Sommariva’s friend
Antonio Canova and by
Luigi Acquisti.
[1]
Villa d'Este.
The
Villa d’Este, at
Cernobbio, was built in 1568 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, a native of the town. In 1816–17 the villa was home to
Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales and shortly to become
Queen Consort of
King George IV of the
United Kingdom. The landscaped gardens in the English style are a product of this period. Later in the century it was turned into a luxury hotel. Today the Villa d’Este is known for attracting such celebrity guests as
Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie,
Paul McCartney,
Oscar Kiss Maerth,
Sharon Stone,
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Yves St. Laurent,
Alfred Hitchcock and
Mikhail Gorbachev.
Villa del Balbianello.
The
Villa del Balbianello, famous for its elaborate terraced gardens, lies on a promontory of the western shore of the lake near
Isola Comacina. Built in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery, it was the final home of the explorer
Guido Monzino and today houses a museum devoted to his work.
The
Villa Melzi, at Bellagio was built in the
neo-classical style by the architect Giocondo Albertolli in 1808–10 as the summer residence of Francesco Melzi who had been vice-president of the Napoleonic
Italian Republic. The park includes an
orangery, a chapel, statues and a
Japanese garden, and is planted, as often on lake Como, with huge
rhododendrons. Nineteenth-century guests at the Villa included Stendhal and
Franz Liszt [2]
The
Villa Serbelloni, also at Bellagio, houses the
Bellagio Study and Conference Center, a residential center set up and managed by the
Rockefeller Foundation since 1959, which operates a 'scholar-in-residence' program for scholars from around the world. This is believed to have been the site of Pliny the Younger’s villa ‘Tragedia’. Its well-known park was created at the end of the eighteenth century by Alessandro Serbelloni.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
The
Sacro Monte (‘’Sacred Mountain’’) of
Ossuccio is located on a hillside slope between olive groves and woods along the western edge of Lake Como facing the
Isola Comacina. Fifteen
Baroque inspired
chapels, built between 1635 and 1710, and dedicated to the
Mysteries of the Rosary are dotted along the way that leads to the Monastery. This building is the last in the chain and is dedicated to the Coronation of the
Blessed Virgin.
In
2003, the
Sacro Monte of
Ossuccio was inserted by
UNESCO in the
World Heritage List.
Recreation and tourism
Lake Como is a popular tourist destination, and a popular venue for
sailing,
windsurfing and
kitesurfing.
[3]
The Villa Erba in Lake Como was also seen in parts of the movie Oceans 12.
Pollution
In
2007 it was reported that Lake Como is too polluted to swim in, with colony-forming units of bacteria at 68 times the safe limit for bathing, with a real risk for bathers of contracting skin infections, dermatitis and even salmonella.
[4]
Places on the lake
Gallery
Lake Como seen from the city of
Como.
View of
Lecco and the Lake of Como, branch of Lecco, from "Ciresa plain" on
Mt. Barro.
Shoreline of Como from inside Lake Como
Notes
1. See Infoparchi, ''Villa Carlotta''; Villacarlotta.it, ''Villa Carlotta''; Macadam, Alta
2. See Infoparchi, ''Villa Melzi''.
3. 2006 Kiteboard Pro World Tour event, Lake Como, ''Italiaspeed.com'', June 6, 2006
4. Italy's posh resort lakes so beautiful, so polluted, ''TheSpec.com'', July 27, 2006
References
★ Macadam, Alta (1997). ''Blue Guide. Northern Italy: from the Alps to Bologna''. London: A & C Black. ISBN 0-7136-4294-7.
★
Infoparchi, ''Villa Carlotta''
★
Infoparchi, ''Villa Melzi''
★
Villacarlotta.it, ''Villa Carlotta''
External links
★
Ferry Services on Italian Lakes - Lake Como
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