Skip to content

Como

Como's walls and the Torre Gattoni

The walls that still enclose Como's old town, Roman in origin and raised again under Barbarossa, with the tower where Volta made his first experiments.

Visit duration
30 min – 1 h
Booking
Not required
Area
First Basin
The stretch of wall with its ivy-covered buttresses and the Torre Gattoni at the end, from the garden along the avenue.Marimari52 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Ysogo · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Qazxsw · Public domain

1 / 3

The stretch of wall with its ivy-covered buttresses and the Torre Gattoni at the end, from the garden along the avenue.

Marimari52 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

Como's walls run along the avenues around the historic centre: Viale Varese, Viale Cattaneo, Viale Battisti and Via Sauro.

The original circuit dates from the first half of the first century BC, in Julius Caesar's time. Destroyed by the Milanese in 1127 after the ten-year war, it was rebuilt by Frederick Barbarossa and altered over later centuries. In 1848 it again served to defend the town against the Austrians. Torre Gattoni stands at the corner of Viale Varese and Viale Cattaneo; Volta carried out physics experiments here around 1765. An electrical substation for the town's lighting was installed around 1930 and used until 1958. Its switchboard, instruments and transformers survive.

  • A walk round the old town, all level along tree-lined avenues.
  • A tower where the young Volta began to experiment.

Highlights

  • The Torre Gattoni
  • The buttressed stretch of wall beside the tower
  • Porta Torre, on Piazza Vittoria

Getting there

  • On foot: the walls ring the historic centre, and the avenues along them are a few minutes from anywhere in the old town.

On the map

Explore the lake
ComoComo's walls and the Torre Gattoni

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

What's on nearby

Events within a few kilometres, on now or coming up.

See all

Nearby: places, experiences, services

Distances as the crow flies.

Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct 2026Comune di Como — Oggi a Comoopens in a new tab

Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct 2026Comune di Como — Oggi a Comoopens in a new tab