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Recent Posts
- Federico Frigerio: The Face of Como October 14, 2025
- Como’s Twin-Tailed Mermaids June 23, 2025
- Beyond the City Walls: Via Milano May 21, 2025
- Garibaldi, the Battle of San Fermo and his Como Bride April 23, 2025
- Lake Como and the Grand Tour March 21, 2025
Category Archives: Culture
Federico Frigerio: The Face of Como
There is one architect in particular we should credit for influencing the way Como looks today. He is Federico Frigerio (1873-1959). He worked incessantly from 1897 until 1945 producing or renovating many of the most significant buildings in the city’s historical centre. Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art, Culture, History, Itineraries, People, Places of interest, Uncategorized
Tagged europe, italy, travel
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Como’s Twin-Tailed Mermaids
The Melusina – a twin-tailed mermaid – can be seen in a variety of locations around Como. We explore the myth of the Melusina and why her symbol adorns both religious and secular buildings in the city. Continue reading
Lake Como and the Grand Tour
The launch of the Romantic movement at the start of the nineteenth century caused many literary and artistic travellers to include Como and its lake in their Grand Tour of Italy. A collection of excerpts from these accounts has recently been published and forms the inspiration for this article. Continue reading
Moltrasio’s stone and its ‘Ecomuseo’
Moltrasio stone was the dominant building material used in and around Como from Roman days until the turn of the twentieth century. It is found at the heart of most buildings even if some may have then be adorned with a veneer of render or a dressing of Musso and Varenna marble. Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Culture, History, Lake, Places of interest, Sustainability, Walks
Tagged Careno, country crafts, dry stone walls, ecomuseo, marble, Moltrasio, proloco, Quarries, stone, Sustainability, tourism
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Lake Como and Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’
Experts now claim that Leonardo Da Vinci set two of his best known paintings amongst the landmarks on Lake Como’s eastern leg by identifying the landscape depicted in the background of the ‘Mona Lisa’ and his ‘Virgin of the Rocks’. Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture, History, Itineraries, Lake, People, Uncategorized
Tagged Adda, Art, Azzone Visconti, canals, Como, Garlate, History, Le Grigne, lecco, Leonardo, leonardo-da-vinci, Mandello, milan, mona-lisa, Paris, Resegone, Vaprio D'Adda
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Como’s Nostalgia For…..Wash Houses
The wash house (Lavatoio in Italian) is a common architectural feature across Italy and no less so in the mountain communities around Lake Como. Technological and social changes have rendered them almost entirely redundant yet many still remain and a significant number have even been renovated and restored. Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Culture, Folklore, History, Lake, Places of interest, Uncategorized
Tagged cleaning, Como, Food, Lake Como, laundry, lavandaia, lavatoio, nature, nostalgia, travel, wash house
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An American in Venice (via Como)
On April 18th Sonja Christoph and husband Alessandro left Como to travel by train to Venice for the day. This was just one of the many, and one of the shortest of journeys undertaken by Sonja in her moves from her native Florida USA to Como via Heidelberg, Munich and London. But perhaps, for all that, this was one of the more personally significant journeys taken until now – she was delivering her artwork entitled ‘Frames of Reference’ for display in the Venetian Biennale. Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture, Events, People, Uncategorized
Tagged Art, Biennale, Cameroon, Como, Culture, illustration, migrants, storytelling, Venice
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The Como Companion 