Italy's most elegant lake

Beloved since Roman times

Shaped like an inverted "Y", Lake Como is a glacial lake at the foot of the Alps, one of the deepest in Europe. The Romans prized it as a retreat — Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger both wrote of their villas on its shores nearly two thousand years ago.

From the Renaissance onwards, Como's wealth grew on silk weaving, an industry the city of Como is still famous for today. Aristocrats and artists built sumptuous lakeside villas with terraced gardens — Carlotta, Melzi, Balbianello — that remain the lake's signature sight.

In the 19th century the lake enchanted Romantic writers and composers such as Stendhal, Liszt and Verdi. Today it blends old-world glamour with international fame, drawing celebrities and travellers alike to villages like Bellagio, the "Pearl of the Lake".