A day's visit to the city of Como

Yesterday we took the ferry to the much larger municipality of Como. This city of 85,000 has an ancient history, as does this entire region. About the first century BC, the area was conquered by Romans. Julius Caesar himself ordered the planning of the newly conquered city, draining a swamp and planning a system of perpendicular streets surrounded by a defensive wall.

We discovered that over the years, those streets have become a bit less perpendicular. We wandered through the city, visiting both the main cathedral, finished comparatively recently in the 18th century, and the Basilica di Sant Abbondio, built in the 11th century. 

Unfortunately, we could not enter the church, but the exterior bas reliefs were interesting in their own right. 

One of Como’s main industries historically was the manufacture of silk, but it’s faced stiff competition from China in recent years, and only a handful of the private manufacturers remain. We stopped in the store owned by Trombetta, and relished the array of patterns and colors in scarves, neckties, and bolts of silk for sale by the meter.

As usual, we bought our meal at the town’s market – figs, cheese, bread, and radicchio. Making choices in cheese is very difficult, but we decided finally on a tallegio – one of about half a dozen varieties – and a some local hard cheese (name started with an “s.”)

We scouted for locations, but Como’s bright & busy streets did not lend themselves to dining, so we brought our provisions back to eat again in our familiar church courtyard.

As we ate, we watched visitors and townspeople gather in the piazza for a celebration of Varenna’s founding. We’re not sure to which year this anniversary celebration refers – because like all the towns in the region, Varenna is ancient. An Iron-Age settlement was established on the site before the Roman’s came and conquered the region in the first century BC. The first time that the name “Varenna is used is in a local will written in the year 769.

As part of the celebrations, the sky erupted in a florid display of fireworks about 11 p.m.  (The Chinese get credit for inventing fireworks for the purpose of scaring away bad spirits, but it was the Italians who developed fireworks for celebration.)