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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

Only the dates from the story ‘The lake on film'All dates

3dates

Nineteenth century

1800–1899 · 1 date

  1. 1896–1897

    Cinema comes to the lake

    The Lumière brothers, touring Italy to make the cinematograph known, film scenes of a boat race at Bellagio. The footage is kept at the Cineteca Nazionale in Rome.

    Place: BellagioStory: The lake on film

Twentieth century

1900–1999 · 2 dates

  1. Hitchcock shoots his first film on the lake

    For ‘The Pleasure Garden', his debut as a director, Alfred Hitchcock sets the heroine's honeymoon on the lake. The Villa d'Este hotel, the Isola Comacina and the Civera bridge at Nesso can all be recognised.

    Place: NessoStory: The lake on film

    The Ponte della Civera at Nesso: a single-arched stone humpback bridge over green water, leading to stone houses with red doors and shutters; a few people are crossing it; on the left, a wall covered in ivy.

  2. Villa del Balbianello passes to the FAI

    The explorer Guido Monzino leaves the villa on the Lavedo point to the FAI, Italy's national trust, with his collections and the relics of his Everest and North Pole expeditions. The Balbianello is also a film location: ‘A Month by the Lake', ‘Star Wars: Episode II' and ‘Casino Royale' were among the films shot there.

    Place: Villa del BalbianelloStory: The lake on film

    The Lavedo point from above: the villa and the loggia at its tip, the terraced gardens and the blue water around them, two motorboats passing.