Como
a city of Lombardy, northern Italy; at the S. W. extremity of the Lake of Como, 30 miles N. of Milan by rail.
The city is surrounded by old walls flanked with towers, the gateways by which the walls are pierced being fine specimens of mediæval military architecture. Among the principal buildings of Como are the cathedral (1396-1732), and the town hall, built of marble, dating from the beginning of the 13th century.
The chief articles of manufacture are silk, gloves, and soap. Como, the ancient Comum, was the birthplace of Cæcilius Statius, the two Plinys, of several popes, and of the physicist Vo Volta. In 1107 it began to war with Milan, and in the course of 20 years was utterly destroyed by its antagonist. st. As an important headquarters of the Ghibelline party, y, it was rebuilt in 1158 by Frederick Barbarossa, and remained a republic for two centuries, when it fell into the hands of the Viscontis, its history since that time being bound up with that of Milan. Pop., commune, about 50,000.
COMO LAKE (anciently Lacus Larius), a lake in the N. of Italy, at the foot of the Alps; fed and drained by the river Adda, which carries its surplus waters to the Po. It extends from S.
W. to N. E., 30 miles, giving off toward the middle, at the promontory where stands Bellaggio, a branch running for about 13 miles S. E. to Lecco, called the Lake of Lecco; greatest width two and a half miles, greatest depth 1929 feet.
It is celebrated for the beautiful scenery of its shores.