Stories from the lake
Lake timeline
Two thousand years of the lake in order of date: from the Roman road along the western shore to the first steamboat, from the fall of the Isola Comacina to the Olginate dam. Each date leads to the story that tells it and to the place where it happened.
- Dates
- 82
- Stories
- 27
- Periods
- 6
4dates
Antiquity
To the 5th century · 1 date
5th or 6th century
The baptistery of Gravedona
A baptistery with a mosaic floor and an octagonal basin for baptism by immersion is built at Gravedona. The Romanesque church of Santa Maria del Tiglio, in bands of light and dark stone, later rises over its remains; the baptistery came to light in the excavations of 1953.
Middle Ages
6th century to 1449 · 2 dates
607–617
Agrippinus founds an oratory at Piona
Agrippinus, Bishop of Como, builds an oratory dedicated to Saint Justina the martyr on the Olgiasca peninsula and prepares his own tomb there. A stone pillar kept at Piona records it; a small community, probably of hermits, was most likely already living there.
1252–1257
The cloister of Piona
Prior Bonaccorso de Canova, from Gravedona, has the abbey's cloister built at his own expense, as two inscriptions record. The capitals, each one different, carry hooked leaves, eagles with spread wings and small heads; the builders' names are unknown.
Twentieth century
1900–1999 · 1 date
Monks return to Piona
After centuries of absentee abbots and private owners, a group of Cistercian monks arrives from Casamari and takes possession of the priory, which the businessman Pietro Rocca has given to their congregation. A community of monks has lived at Piona ever since.
