Como

City and Lake Como, painted by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1834

The hills surrounding the current location of Como were inhabited, since at least the Iron Age, by a Celtic tribe known as the Orobii. Remains of settlements are still present on the wood-covered hills to the southwest of town.

Around the first century BC, the territory became subject to the Romans. The town centre was situated on the nearby hills, but it was then moved to its current location by order of Julius Caesar, who had the swamp near the southern tip of the lake drained and laid the plan of the walled city in the typical Roman grid of perpendicular streets. The newly founded town was named Novum Comum and had the status of municipium. In September 2018, Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli announced the discovery of several hundred gold coins in the basement of the former Cressoni Theater (Teatro Cressoni) in a two-handled soapstone amphora, coins struck by emperors Honorius, Valentinian III, Leo I the Thracian, Antonio and Libius Severus dating to 474 AD.[11]

In 774, the town surrendered to invading Franks led by Charlemagne and became a centre of commercial exchange.

In 1127, Como lost a decade-long war with the nearby town of Milan. A few decades later, with the help of Frederick Barbarossa, the Comaschi were able to avenge their defeat when Milan was destroyed in 1162. Frederick promoted the construction of several defensive towers around the city limits, of which only one, the Baradello, remains.

Subsequently, the history of Como followed that of the Duchy of Milan, through the French invasion and the Spanish domination, until 1714, when the territory was taken by the Austrians. Napoleon descended into Lombardy in 1796 and ruled it until 1815, when the Austrian rule was resumed after the Congress of Vienna. By 1848, the population had reached 16,000.[12] In 1859, with the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the town became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy.

At the end of World War II, after passing through Como on his escape towards Switzerland, Benito Mussolini was taken prisoner and then shot by partisans in Giulino di Mezzegra, a small town on the north shores of Lake Como.

In 2010, a motion by members of the nationalist Swiss People's Party was submitted to the Swiss parliament requesting the admission of adjacent territories to the Swiss Confederation; Como (and its province) is one of these.[13][14][15]

The Rockefeller fountain that today stands in the Bronx Zoo in New York City was once in the main square (Piazza Cavour) by the lakeside. It was bought by William Rockefeller in 1902 for Lire 3,500 (the estimated equivalent then of $637).[16]

Situated at the southern tip of the south-west arm of Lake Como, the city is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Milan; the city proper borders Switzerland and the communes of Blevio, Brunate, Capiago Intimiano, Casnate con Bernate, Cernobbio, Grandate, Lipomo, Maslianico, Montano Lucino, San Fermo della Battaglia, Senna Comasco, Tavernerio, and Torno, and the Swiss towns of Chiasso and Vacallo. Nearby major cities are Varese, Lecco, and Lugano.

The lakefront

Como Main Town buildings decorated with light show during December 2017

The legislative body of the Italian comuni is the City Council (Consiglio Comunale); in Como, it comprises 32 councillors elected every five years with a proportional system, at the same time of the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee (Giunta Comunale), composed of 9 assessori each overseeing a specific ministry, that is nominated and presided over by a directly elected Mayor (Sindaco). The mayor of Como since June 27, 2022, is Alessandro Rapinese, an independent leading an alliance bearing his name (Rapinese Sindaco), unaffiliated with any official political party.

Administrative subdivisions

Administrative subdivisions

Como is divided into these frazioni (roughly equivalent to the anglocentric ward):

1. Albate – Muggiò – Acquanera
2. Lora
3. Prestino – Camerlata – Breccia – Rebbio
4. Camnago Volta
5. City Center – West Como
6. Borghi
7. North Como – East Como
8. Monte Olimpino – Ponte Chiasso – Sagnino – Tavernola
9. Garzola – Civiglio

The economy of Como, until the end of the 1980s, was traditionally based on industry; in particular, the city was world-famous for its silk manufacturers, and in 1972 its production exceeded that of China and Japan,[20][21] but since the mid-1990s increasing competition from Asia has significantly reduced profit margins and many small and mid-sized firms have gone out of business. As a consequence, manufacturing is no longer the economic driver, and the city has been absorbed into Milan's metropolitan area where it mainly provides workers to the service industry sector. A significant number of residents are employed in the nearby Swiss towns Lugano and Mendrisio, primarily in the industrial sector, health care services and in the hospitality industry;[22] the 30 km (19 mi) commute is beneficial as wages in Switzerland are notably higher. For these reasons, tourism has become increasingly important for the city's economy since the late 1990s, when local small businesses have gradually been replaced by bars, restaurants and hotels. With 215,320 overnight guests in 2013, Como was the fourth-most visited city in Lombardy after Milan, Bergamo, and Brescia.[23] In 2018, Como surpassed Bergamo becoming the third most visited city in Lombardy with 1.4 million arrivals.[24] The city and the lake have been chosen as the filming location for various recent popular feature films, and this, together with the increasing presence of celebrities such as Matt Bellamy who have bought lakeside properties,[25] has heightened the city's attractiveness and given a further boost to international tourism; since the early 2000s the city has become a popular "must-see" tourist destination in Italy.[26]

The city of Como has seen its population increase until it peaked at almost 100,000 inhabitants in the 1970s, when manufacturing, especially the silk industry, was in its boom years. As production began to decline, the population tally decreased by almost 20,000 until the beginning of the 21st century, when the city saw its population grow again by more than six thousand units, generally due to increasing immigration from Asia, Eastern Europe and North Africa. As of October 2022, the population was 84,250 people of which 11,921 were resident aliens, that is, 14.1% of the total; the population distribution by origin was as follows:[27]

Top 20 nationalities of resident aliens:

Pos.	Citizenship	Residents
1	Philippines	1155
2	Romania	947
3	Sri Lanka	791
4	Turkey	656
5	Albania	604
6	Ukraine	578
7	El Salvador	545
8	Nigeria	498
9	China	470
10	Tunisia	426
11	Pakistan	411
12	Morocco	364
13	Bangladesh	313
14	Ecuador	301
15	Peru	234
16	Ghana	233
17	Russia	214
18	Egypt	168
19	United Kingdom	164
20	Kosovo	151

Como is home to numerous high schools, the Conservatory of music "Giuseppe Verdi", the Design school "Aldo Galli", the University of Insubria and a branch campus of the Politecnico di Milano.

In Como there are three major hospitals: Ospedale Sant'Anna, Ospedale Valduce and Clinica Villa Aprica.

Notable sports clubs are the ASDG Comense 1872 basketball team, a two-time winner of the FIBA EuroLeague Women, and Calcio Como, a football team. There are also numerous recreational activities available for tourists such as pedal boating, fishing, walking and seaplane rentals. Como also hosts a prestigious clay-court tennis tournament every year, the Città di Como Challenger, which attracts many of the world's top players who are not involved in the concurrent US Open. Many players have testified that they much prefer playing in the relaxed and friendly Como environs than the hustle and bustle of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.

Como is twinned with:[34]

• Fulda, Germany, since 1960
• Tokamachi, Japan, since 1975
• Nablus, Palestine, since 1998
• Netanya, Israel, since 2004[35]

• Lake Como
• Province of Como
• List of people from Como

• "Como". Northern Italy (14th ed.). Leipzig: Karl Baedeker. 1913. OL 16015532M.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Como.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Como.

• Official website (in Italian and English)
• Official Tourism Portal
• Historical picture gallery and slideshow
• Official Tourist Board website (in Italian and English)
• Lake Como Navigation Company
• Official Virtual Tour
• A documentary about the Lake by Yann Arthus-Bertrand