Many people have heard of Lake Como in Italy and know it as a celebrity hang-out, but perhaps most people have never heard of the town of Como, which is situated on Lake Como in Italy. Como is located in Lombardy, Italy, which is in the northern part bordering the Alps with Switzerland to the north. From Como, visitors can take a boat on the vast Lake Como or simply enjoy the town. I had about an hour and a half to spend at the town of Como, and this allowed me enough time for a very quick sandals purchase (my heels were sore), a quick walk around the city, and a visit to the cathedral (duomo).
Como is not a big city. There are two main shopping streets in Como, and the first one goes off from the cathedral's square. The second one is the next street to the north of the cathedral. My heels were hurting so bad that my first stop was on this street in order to buy heel-less sandals. (Mind you, my feet got eaten on the boat trip that I'd take later.)
From there, walking straight and coming to what was an old school or museum, the road turned to the right and contained a few shops before intersecting with the other main road. This road is the one that contains part of the old Roman wall and the remaining tower. There are other towers, but this is the most interesting one. The town of Como was actually on a hillside nearby before it became under Roman occupation in 1BC. After this, Julius Caesar demanded the town be rebuilt on swampland that was drained and the town walls were built at this time. The other side of this tower contains two archways.
The town of Como was at war with Milan town and won in 1162. Como and Milan were also invaded and occupied by the French, Spanish and Austrians throughout the years. Today, Como is known for its silk production.
Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were born in Como. Pliny the Elder was born in 23AD, and the town would have been relatively a young town at that time. Pliny the Elder had written about the destruction of Pompeii in detail. His statue is located on the front of the cathedral in Como to celebrate his living in the town. In fact, Pliny the Elder died of what is though a heart attack during the Pompeii events in 79.
In Como, I found an ice cream shop selling fruit lollies, and I got a lemon one. It was late morning, but the weather was humid so it was refreshing.
I found an interior courtyard with a church. It was very picturesque.
Before going to get our boat journey on Lake Como, I had a moment to explore Como duomo, the cathedral. The front of the cathedral is made of different colour bricks. Unfortunately, our guide's communication equipment were not good and we could not hear (plus the group was too large, so I would recommend making your own way to Como and planning ahead and exploring on your own instead of using a tour group). The only thing that I managed to gather about the cathedral was that one of the statues was Pliny. Reading online, however, the work on the cathedral started in the mid-1300s but was not finished until the late 1700s.
The views from the harbour looked quite attractive with the flowers, and that's someone's head in my way and not my thumb. One of the other drawbacks of going with a big group is that there's tight deadlines (or rushing about because one of the group has not turned up when they should have done) and someone is always in the way.
Have you ever been to Como? I would visit again at my own lesiure to have more time, but it is a stop popular with tour groups unfortunately, but I think they tend to stop here early and then go onto the lake like we did.
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