castles-and-ruins near Santi Nazaro e Celso

Photo: Ktulu

Como is Lake Como's largest city where you will find shopping, works of art, churches, gardens, museums, theatres, parks and palaces. Places to go inlcude the Duomo, the Basilica of Sant'Abbondio, Villa Olmo, the Volta Temple and Museum, the Teatro...

The church is located next to the parish church of SS. Quirico e Giulitta and is accessed by three steps. It dates from the fourteenth century and was enlarged with the construction of two bays in the middle of the sixteenth century. Noteworthy are...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Built towards the end of 1300 to replace an existing chapel. The church, a single nave, built of local stone and brick, houses the remains of votive frescoes of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It underwent two periods of restoration: one in...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Romanesque in origin, but built on the foundations of a medieval church as demonstrated by archaeological excavations. Another testimony to its antiquity is the dedication to Saints Cosmas and Damian, doctors who were martyred in the fourth century...

This is situated in the locality of Rovasco and is from the 12th-13th centuries. It was renovated several times and was extended in the fourteenth century. It has preserved frescoes of the Blessed Virgin with Baby Jesus and St. Christopher. It is...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The village contains this interesting church that dates back to the 14th century. It has a fine Romanesque bell tower and a decorated Renaissance portal. An ancient chest behind the altar preserves a precious reliquary, a nail of the Holy Cross....

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Built in the space of ten years from 1766-1776. Characterized by a bright interior with elegant harmonious architecture. The walls are like arabesque allegories and symbols of the Passion (spears, lanterns, nails ...). The four corners of the dome,...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Built in the Romanesque period, between the 11 and 12th centuries, but underwent many changes and expansions to its current appearance. It was the first parish church of Molina; over the centuries, the population of this village moved increasingly...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Outside of Lasnigo is the Romanesque church of Sant’Alessandro which lies on a slope boulevard flanked by an eighteenth-century chapels of the Cross. In ancient times the original church was built on a lower plateau. Then the bell tower was moved to...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Built between 1723 and 1744 and consecrated by Bishop Albrici Pellegrini in 1764. The façade, in the Baroque style, is characterized by four pilasters and from the portal flanked by two niches and surmounted by a sundial. Above it is the date in...

Nestled in the woods of the Natural Reserve of Valle Bova, the hermitage is available to accommodate individuals, couples, priests, lay people, religious, who want to enjoy moments of silence and prayer....

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The Romanesque church of St. Euphemia of Incino d'Erba is one of the oldest churches in the Larian Triangle, the province of Como and the Archdiocese of Milan. The church is located on the ancient road network that connected Aquileia Brescia,...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Also known as St. Anthony, as there is a preserved relic of the saint that is exposed to the congregation of the faithful every 17 January. The church was an integral part of the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli, founded in Crevenna at...

Church built between 1910 and 1931 in Palanzo, a small village above Faggeto Lario. The short hike affords great views of the lake from a a nearby park....

The Stone of Preguda, a rock composed of granite ghiandone, is incorporated in the Church of Sant’ Isidoro. The Stone of Preguda, on the slopes of Moregallo, is a rock composed of granite ghiandone, from the Val Masino and is the most famous...

This parish church can be reached through an uphill street passing by the Baroque chapel of the Crocetta. The 19th century front is very elegant and shows a typical Greek design by the architect Bovara. Inside it hosts an altar dating back to the...

The Chapel of the dead to Crocetta is the oldest and most impressive votive chapel in Malgrate. With baroque architecture, it dates back to the sixteenth century and houses bones, probably of the dead from the plague. Not documented, the chapel is...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

Parish church built in the sixteenth century and later remodeled. The choir has a fresco by painter G. Quaglio. Next to the parish is the Oratory dedicated to Santa Marta with a fascinating frescoed facade in bas-relief from the sixteenth century,...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The church of San Rocco was the parish church of Pognana Lario up to 1744, when a new parish church dedicated to the Holy Trinity it was consecrated. It was then "downgraded", lost its dedication to the Holy Trinity, and was re-dedicated to St....

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The construction of the church began in 1791 and ended in 1823 requiring the works of several architects: Clemente Isacchi, Giuseppe Pollack, Giuseppe Bovara and Simone Cantoni. The church hosts a crucifixion of 1879 by Mosè Bianchi and a painting...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

St. George, as with other holy warriors (Michael and Martin) was highly revered by the Lombards. The present church was built in the sixteenth century on the site of a former place of worship; it underwent other changes in following years,...

Built in the second half of the sixteenth century, this church was remodeled and expanded in later periods. Distinct for its large columns and the sixteenth round arches on the porch....

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The church of Saints Peter and Paul was believed to have been founded in the eleventh century by Bishop Rainald and consecrated in 1095 by Pope Urban II, who was traveling to Clermont-Ferrand to call the first crusade. Over the centuries, the...

The Church of Saints Nazario and Celso is just a short walk away from the waters of Lake Como, near the harbor in the old town of Brienno. Some documents attest to the presence of a church since the end of the thirteenth century, the Romanesque...

Photo: Mattana

Octagonal building with drum and porch hexastyle made following the discovery (1624) of the image of the Virgin now altar. Factory completed in 1630, but with following reconstruction (porch redone in 1742 and the bell tower in 1912). Outside of the...

The parish church is located in the center of the country.Built in the seventeenth century, is decorated with prestigious and stucco friezes of Stefano Salterio (XVIII century) and also preserves works of painting and sculpture of the eighteenth...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

This is situated in the locality of Rovasco and is from the 12th-13th centuries. It was renovated several times and was extended in the fourteenth century. It has preserved frescoes of the Blessed Virgin with Baby Jesus and St. Christopher. It is...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The current building was built on the site previously occupied by an older church: its construction began in 1593 and lasted until the next century (1617), when it became an independent parish. In the eighteenth century underwent a partial...

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The small chapel is located in the historic center of Veleso, at the intersection of several streets. The façade is decorated with a fresco depicting the Crucifixion....

Photo: Enrico Colzani

The village contains this interesting church that dates back to the 14th century. It has a fine Romanesque bell tower and a decorated Renaissance portal. An ancient chest behind the altar preserves a precious reliquary, a nail of the Holy Cross....

The church, that stands near the lake, contains interesting frescoes, and the outside is characterized by an open porch to the lake with a double lancetwindow and a tall stone bell tower. It was the church of the community, which remained...

These are considered as one of the greatest Romanesque architectural monuments in Europe and are part of a single Benedictine settlement. Important note: the Church can be reached only on foot walking for about 1 hour through a mountain path (300 m...

Photo: Davide Veniani

According to tradition, the church was built in the thirteenth century, at the behest of a crusader returning from the Holy Land. According to another legend, the church was built on a refuge belonging to the order of the Templars. Positioned on a...

The construction of the church began in 1791 and ended in 1823 requiring the works of several architects: Clemente Isacchi, Giuseppe Pollack, Giuseppe Bovara and Simone Cantoni. The church hosts a crucifixion of 1879 by Mosè Bianchi and a painting...

Photo: A ntv

Main church in Lecco dedicated to the saint patorn of sailors. Its structure is in Neoclassical style thanks to the architect Giuseppe Bovara who worked on its enlargement and contains 17th century furniture, a baptismal font of 1596, Romanesque...

Photo: Claudine Frère

Near the top of the Ghisallo pass stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Ghisallo. Its name, according to the legend, comes from a certain "Ghisallo" who, in the Middle Ages, near the pass was attacked by bandits. He made a vow to the Madonna to...

The Tower is located on a rocky outcrop above the village of Spurano and it was an ancient watchtower, which probably dates back to the 12th century. The fortified structure, included in the difensive system of the Comacina Island, was probably...

An ancient palace of the seventeenth century. It belonged to one of the most influential families of Lake Como, the Brentano, who later moved to Milan and then to Germany. It is currently used in part as a city hall where the renown painter Giulio...

Originally a signalling tower, that later became a fortress as documented 1158. There is no information about the proceeding centuries until 1454 when the area fell into the hands of the Republic of Venice and the Adda River became the natural...

The Castle lies on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Como close to Riva Bianca and its namesake beach. Built in the Romanesque period, the fortress was at the focus of several historical events, like the battle between Milan and Como in 1124. It was...

Volunteers of the Cultural Center Library Bellagio deal with loaning library books and organize various cultural events....

At Mount Cross Ardona (m. 1005), a path splits into two. On the left, is a wooded summit then down along a bumpy ride to the entrance of Castel d'Ardona. To the right, a few bends bring you to same point but the road is much easier (1h 30 'from...

It is thought the tower was built at the behest of Fontanedo Bernabo Visconti in 1357, on the defensive line of Upper Lake, but perhaps it was only enhanced an existing structure. It is located about 700 meters downstream of the village of...

Gate Tower is an imposing fortress, 40 meters high, built in 1192, on the initiative of the mayor Hubert de 'Olevano, to defend the entrance to the city of Como. In the fourteenth century the great tower was flanked by two other pentagonal towers,...

The Broletto or "Town Hall" is the most important medieval secular building in Como. The building rises immediately northwest of the Cathedral; representing an almost unique example of the close connection between spiritual and temporal power in a...

It is a private building constructed on roman foundation with an irregular square plant. The building, which has crown walls with battlements to protect the round parapet, can be dated between 1360 and 1370. It is a typical castle-enclosure, which...

Fort Fuentes is a former military fort on the hill of Montecchio or Monteggiolo near Colico, northern Italy. It was built by the Spanish governor of Milan, Don Pedro Enríquez de Acevedo, Count of Fuentes, to defend the northern border of the Spanish...

Fort Montecchio-Lusardi is a military fort situated in Colico, in the province of Lecco, northern Italy. It was built between 1911 and 1914. It is the only Italian fort from World War I which has been preserved intact with its original weapons. The...

A must see--one of the most beautiful castles on the lake. It is a walled enclusure, developed around a squared tower with restored battlements and a real drawbridge. Additional attractions feature live falconry shows, an exhibition dedicated to the...

Trapezoidal shaped castle with three towers built by counts Della Torre of Rezzonico in 1363. It is described as a "castle-fence", fortifying an area of two thousand square meters which surrounded the town and the main tower. Today the castle is...

Baradello Castle is situated on hill dominating the valley like a stone sentinel watching over the town of Como and Spina Verde Park. The top of the tower provides 360 degree views of the city, the Alps and Po Valley. The fortification was used...

Placed on a hill overlooking the town, the castle was built in late Middle Ages to block the way to Valvarrone and it still remains a well-preserved tower, surrounded by ruins of ancient houses. The first proofs date back to 1039, when it suffered a...

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