A lakeside city of Roman roots, silk, rationalist architecture and understated northern elegance
Como is frequently introduced through its lake, which is understandable because Lake Como has a talent for stealing attention. Mountains descend steeply into deep blue water, villas sit among gardens, ferries cross between villages, and the light can make even sensible people consider buying property they cannot possibly afford. Yet Como itself deserves to be seen as more than a gateway to the lake. It is an old city with Roman roots, a medieval core, a major textile tradition and a modern architectural identity that has influenced Italian design far beyond its size.
The area was inhabited before the Romans, but the decisive urban foundation came under Rome. Julius Caesar refounded the settlement as Novum Comum in the first century BC, creating an organized town that benefited from its strategic position close to Alpine routes. Como produced two of the most famous intellectual figures of Roman antiquity connected with the region: Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. Their names remain woven into local cultural memory and remind us that the city’s relationship with knowledge is nearly two thousand years old.
After the Roman period, Como passed through Lombard and Frankish rule and eventually became an important medieval commune. Its position made it both useful and vulnerable. The city competed with Milan, and the long conflict known as the Ten Years’ War ended in 1127 with Como defeated and devastated. Yet the city recovered. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa later supported Como in its renewed rivalry with Milan, and the medieval period left strong traces in the city’s walls, towers and churches.
Como Cathedral, begun in the late fourteenth century and completed over several centuries, is one of northern Italy’s most interesting religious buildings because it brings together Gothic, Renaissance and later Baroque elements. Its façade faces Piazza del Duomo, the civic heart of the city, while nearby the Broletto recalls medieval municipal government. The basilica of Sant’Abbondio, outside the tightest central core, preserves an earlier Romanesque atmosphere and reveals how many layers of Como exist behind its more polished lakeside image.
The city’s fortunes were closely tied to broader Lombard history. It came under the Visconti and Sforza, then Spanish and Austrian rule, before entering the Napoleonic world and later the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. During the Risorgimento Como contributed to the movement for Italian unification, and in 1859 the city became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, soon to become the Kingdom of Italy. These political shifts were important, but Como’s modern identity was increasingly shaped by industry, especially silk.
For centuries the Como area developed expertise in silk production, and by the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it had become one of Europe’s great centers for silk weaving, printing and design. This tradition connected Como to fashion houses across Italy and abroad. Even today, the city and province remain closely associated with luxury textiles. The story is a perfect example of Made in Italy before the phrase became a global brand: local craftsmanship, technical skill, design intelligence and international markets working together over generations.
Como also played a major role in the history of modern architecture through Giuseppe Terragni, one of the leading figures of Italian Rationalism. His Casa del Fascio, completed in the 1930s and now known as Palazzo Terragni, remains one of the most important modernist buildings in Italy. Its severe geometry stands not far from the cathedral, creating a striking dialogue between medieval and twentieth-century Como. The city also celebrates Alessandro Volta, born here in 1745, whose work on electricity led to the invention of the voltaic pile. The Volt unit is named after him, meaning that Como has quietly left its mark on every physics textbook on earth.
The lakefront gives Como its most graceful public face. Piazza Cavour opens toward the water, ferries depart for towns along the lake, and the promenade leads toward villas and gardens. The funicular to Brunate climbs above the city and provides one of the classic views across the basin and surrounding mountains. Yet Como’s center is compact enough that one can move quickly from elegant shopping streets to ancient walls, from cafés to churches, and from urban stone to open water.
Daily life here reflects Lombardy but moves at a slightly gentler pace than Milan. Commuters, students, textile professionals, tourists and long-established families share the center. The lake brings international visitors, second-home owners and a certain degree of glamour, but the city remains practical beneath the surface. Como knows perfectly well that beauty is useful, but invoices must still be paid.
Local food combines lake, mountain and Lombard traditions. Risotto with perch is among the most famous dishes associated with the area, while polenta, cheeses, freshwater fish and hearty alpine-influenced dishes reflect the surrounding landscape. Missoltini, sun-dried shad traditionally preserved and served with polenta, belong to an older lake cuisine based on preservation and local resources. The result is far more rustic than the luxury image of the lake might suggest.
Tourism today is enormous across Lake Como, especially after decades of international celebrity attention. Como itself benefits from this flow but also faces the challenge of remaining a real city rather than merely the first stop on an itinerary of villas. Fortunately, its university activities, commerce, textile industry and civic life give it a stable identity beyond tourism.
What makes Como different from other Italian cities is its unusual harmony of landscape and industry. It is beautiful in a way that appears effortless, yet much of its historical prosperity came from disciplined work: trade, silk, engineering, science and design. The lake provides romance; the city provides structure.
A visitor should explore the cathedral and Broletto, walk the lakefront, ride the funicular to Brunate, seek out Terragni’s architecture, remember Alessandro Volta, and then take a ferry to understand how Como fits within the larger geography of the lake. The city makes much more sense once seen both from land and water.
Today Como is the capital of its province, a prosperous Lombard city, a major tourism gateway and a center with continuing ties to textile production, education and design. It remains elegant without becoming fragile and international without losing its local character.
If you have visited Como, tell us what stayed with you most: the cathedral, the lake at sunset, the funicular to Brunate, the villas along the shore, or the realization that the city behind the famous lake has a history every bit as interesting as the view. Follow Made in Italy Stories for more stories about Italy’s cities. We tell you about Italy, as Italians.