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DISCOVERING THE SECRET DISTRICT OF COMO
Along the lake, not far from the crowded Como funicular station, there is a small paved road that gradually becomes a staircase. Here is the heart of the secluded and unknown neighborhood of Nosetta.
These few steps are enough to catapult us into a different dimension from the Como one and to experience the muffled and fascinating atmosphere, typical of the lake villages.
The "charm" is characteristic of the places of the past, inhabited (in this case) by fishermen, boatmen and washerwomen. In fact, the itinerary is called "path of the washerwomen"; now become urban, it once connected the ancient church of S. Giuliano in Pomario with the Nosetta chapel on the ancient road to Torno.
The old mule track was the only one that led to Blevio until the nineteenth century, before the construction of Via Torno; a path that wound south-east, between the slopes of the Brunate mountain and the shores of the lake.
Its name is "Via della Madonnetta", due to the small chapel built on top of the road in honor of the "Madonna del Rosario".
Supplications and prayers to Our Lady continued also in the following century due to the cholera epidemic that invaded Europe in the 1830s ". The washerwomen of Sant'Agostino, exposed to contagion for their profession, marched in procession towards the Madonnetta, which would have protected them from the disease.
A vow that is still repeated today on the second Sunday of July - protector of all the operators of the lake.
FUN FACTS
- The left side of the lake in Como was also known as “Riva di brutt” (shore of the ugly ones), due to the longshoremen, robust characters not very accustomed to parlor language.
- On the ascent of the Nosetta there are indications of the floods of Como with date and height. Some are higher then 2 meters.
- It is said that at the end of the 1700s a ruinous landslide stopped right at the height of the Madonnetta, saving all the houses below.
- There are two ginkgo biloba trees in a private garden which are supposed to be planted at the time when the first villa was built on this side of the lake, 1820.
Düsseldorf-based art consultant Sabine Broekmann has spent thirty years placing art in homes, galleries and design spaces. We asked her about atmosphere, collecting — and the Italian objects she chooses for herself.
There are places on Lake Como that you would not expect to exist. Casa Bianca Como is one of them. A historic villa open to the public since 2024, it houses a deeply personal contemporary art collection — works by Francesco Vezzoli, Pier Paolo Calzolari and others — alongside Cova, the historic Milanese patisserie. We went on a winter afternoon. We will return.
The things we value most about how we work were not invented. They were inherited — from the mills, the artisans, and the rhythms of life on Lake Como. And they are responsible. Zero waste. Transparent supply chain. Timeless design. No compromise.
