Comacina Island, the only island on Lake Como

Comacina Island looks like a cheap little island, but proportionally she has seen more of it than the whole of Lake Como put together!

It is small, wild and unique in the whole of the Lario. And the locals love it!

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Of course, it must be said that it has also had a bit of luck on its side: the various landslides and melting glaciers have meant that it has ‘risen’ in a particularly picturesque corner, which serves as its frame. But the exchange is certainly reciprocal, because the frame would not be so splendid if it were not in the centre.

In short, let’s say that the two elements give each other a hand and the result is one of the most photographed and appreciated pictures of Lake Como.

Whichever way you turn, you get priceless views!

Strolling along its paths allows you to appreciate one of the most popular areas of the lake from a privileged vantage point.

But its fame is due not only to its magnificent location!

Comacina Island: a story full of twists and turns

This small strip of land has been through it all and its history is one for the books.

There are the Romans, there is St Abbondio, but also the Lombards and the Byzantine Empire. And then the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, the King of Belgium and even the architect Pietro Lingeri.

Not bad for such a small island, right?

But let’s put things in order. The Romans have something to do with it because they were its first inhabitants, they were called Ausuciates and they gave their name to the village opposite, Ossuccio.

St. Abbundius has something to do with it because it is said he was the one who had one of the most beautiful 11th-century basilicas built here, St. Euphemia, of which the ancient ruins remain.

But the island was also such a strategic and well-fortified place that it became the refuge of one of the last garrisons of the Byzantine Empire when the Lombards arrived.

Then, to his misfortune, in 1169, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa descended on Italy: the struggle between the Communes and the Empire was in full swing and the island allied itself with Milan. So it was that the Como people, allied instead to the Emperor, razed it to the ground.

This episode of the destruction of the island is so deeply rooted in popular tradition that it still represents the crucial moment in the historical re-enactment staged during one of the most famous festivals of the entire lake, the Festival of St John.

But let us return to its history.

I will tell you how it came about: after the heavy defeat, for centuries, the island’s fate seemed to be at an end.

Until 1919, when the King of Belgium (who had received it in his will) donated it in turn to the Italian government. It was at this point that it passed into the hands of the Brera Academy and it was Pietro Lingeri who made it a colony for artists and built three rationalist-style houses for them.

And today? She certainly hasn’t stopped being famous! On the contrary! It is considered one of the ‘most interesting archaeological areas in northern Italy’. And I’d say that’s not a bad definition for such a small strip of land!

OK, historical digressions over!

I don’t usually go into these kinds of passages, to avoid slipping up, but I couldn’t let you understand its atmosphere without a hint of its past.

It was alive, populated, full of churches and well fortified. And that is exactly what you have to imagine when you visit it and wander around the many ruins it holds.

How to visit it

Access to the Comacina Island is permitted from May to the end of October, every day from 10 am to 6 pm. For up-to-date information, I recommend consulting the official website.

An entrance ticket must be paid, which can be purchased at the Antiquarium Museum in Ossuccio or directly on the island at the ticket machine.

The island can be reached either with the Lake Como Navigation Service or by using the private taxi boat service (tel. +39 335 70 74 122).

There are currently no catering facilities on the island.

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