We spent our last full day in Italy in Como, walking around and then taking a ferry up the lake to Bellagio. Como is situated on Lake Como on Italy's northern border. Because of its geographic position, Como has a history of being governed by different European states. The current location of Como was built by Julius Ceasar in the 1st century AD. Since then it's rule was volleyed back and forth between the French, the Italians, the Austrians, the French again, the Austrians again, finally becoming part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1859. Walking around the lake and through the streets of Como, you definitely feel the different influences its political history has brought. You could easily convince someone they were in Switzerland or Austria. An interesting side note; after WWII Mussolini was captured and killed in Como while trying to escape to Switzerland.
Ron
The Duomo in Como is over 600 years old.
Everything has a connection. Here on the facade of the Duomo, flanking to rose window, are statues of Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. Pliny the Elder, a native of Como, died rescuing people during Vesuvius' eruption. Much of what we know about the eruption and its aftermath come from letters written by Pliny the Younger detailing his adoptive father's death. While cruising Lake Como, we passed Pliny the Elder's house. Okay, before you marvel at how smart I am, we learned all of this from an archeology student from California we met on the Lake Como ferry. She was doing an internship in Como for the summer. I guess she was dying to tell someone about Pliny the Elder's house as we cruised by it, so she just started talking to us. I had no idea what she was talking about but made believe I did and looked it up when I got home.
If you look past the round part of the Duomo in the next photo, you can see a building in the distance that is made up of white rectangles. That is the Casa del Fascio, or the Fascist House. It was built during the time of Mussolini and is a very important example of post-modernist architecture in Italy. That it is facing the Duomo is not a coincidence. It was built in direct response to the more ornate, frivolous Renaissance style of the Duomo. "Fascist" archetecture in Italy began in Milian and Como. The style is meant to be strictly utilitarian but there is a unique beauty to the clean, geometric design.
Seth having a stand-off with a little girl on a bicycle. It's just like walking through the streets of Carroll Gardens.
Street theater.
This is a statue of Alessandro Volta, who invented the electric cell that would become the battery.
The Lake, leaving Como. Taking a ferry up the lake to Bellagio was another spectacular feast for the eyes. Surrounded by the Alps, every turn of the boat revealed a new breath-taking view.
Bellagio. Suddenly it felt like we were back in the southern part of Italy. Bellagio is the same kind of tourist driven town as Capri and Positano, with its vertical streets and shopping.
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