Bellagio is certainly one of the most beautiful and fascinating towns of the Lago di Como. Its special location dates back to the last Ice Age when the Bellagio promontory (Punta Spartivento), owing to its compact geologic composition, forced the glacier to split, creating the two deep valleys east and west, which would then have become famous as Alessandro Manzoni's "branches of the Lake Como".Precisely for this particular history Bellagio guarantees one of the most impressive panoramic views of Italy: particularly from the park of Villa Serbelloni and the top of Mount San Primo, you can see the Alps, from the Monte Bianco to the Ortles and the Madonnina of the Duomo di Milano.
The lake promenade is enlivened, as well as by luxurious hotels, by elegant shops that express the best in made in Italy: jewels, clothing, but especially the precious silks that are the pride of the Como industry. Crossing north to south through the town you cannot remain unimpressed by the beauty of the old town with its narrow lanes, which come out onto the side of the lake, in an extraordinary square and on the piers for boats, hydrofoils and ferries.
Among Bellagio's architectonic beauties we can point out in particular: villa Serbelloni, villa Melzi and the Basilisk of San Giacomo. Finally, the pleasure for gourmets is ensured by delicious gastronomic specialties which you can only taste in the area's restaurants: we are speaking of the Como recipes for cooking lake fish (allis shads, trouts and the "misultitt"), polenta "tocc" and "oncia" and, for desserts, "mataloc".
August.2002
The Lake of Como
Tourism in the province of Como (In Italian)
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