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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
Como harbour with the jetty and moored boats, the cathedral dome on the right and the Brunate hill behind the town.
Photochrom Print Collection · Public domain

3dates

Middle Ages

6th century to 1449 · 2 dates

  1. 1118–1127

    The Ten Years' War between Como and Milan

    The Isola Comacina and the lake's parish districts side with Milan against Como, and the lake becomes a battlefield. In 1124 the people of Como occupy and burn the island, but Milan wins the war: in August 1127 Como is taken and has to accept the demolition of the town, its churches excepted.

    Place: Isola ComacinaStory: The fall of the Isola Comacina

  2. Como razes the Isola Comacina

    Strong again with Frederick Barbarossa on its side, Como destroys the island down to its foundations and scatters its stones in the lake so that it cannot be rebuilt. The islanders flee to Varenna, where the quarter that takes them in is called Insula nova, the new island; in 1175 a decree of Barbarossa confirms the ban on rebuilding.

    Place: Isola ComacinaStory: The fall of the Isola Comacina

    Ruins on the Isola Comacina on a hazy summer day: in the foreground low walls of stacked flat stones, slabs and stones scattered on the ground among the grass; on the right a tree with a leaning trunk and a slope of dry grass, on the left trees and bushes; beyond, the pale blue lake and the steep wooded mountain of the opposite shore, with a village strung along the water at its foot, and in the distance another peak in the haze.

Twentieth century

1900–1999 · 1 date

  1. The fortified line on the northern border

    Warned of a possible German invasion of Switzerland, Luigi Cadorna orders a fortified line from the Ossola valleys to the passes of the Orobie. In the province of Como it runs from Monte Bisbino to the Crocetta above Menaggio, with trenches, tunnels and gun positions that will never see a battle.

    Place: La CrocettaStory: The Cadorna Line on the Lario

    The Alpini chapel at the Crocetta, with the lake and the mountains behind.