Hikes around Lake Como

Good to know about Lake Como

Lake Como is the deepest lake in Italy, over four hundred metres at its deepest point, and such a large body of water, hemmed in by steep mountains, has its own pattern of winds that anyone who walks the ridges soon learns to read. In the morning the Tivano blows from north to south; towards late morning the Breva takes over and runs up the lake from the south in the afternoon, with the changeover shifting from day to day. In practice the early hours are often the clearest, while in the afternoon the humidity rising from the plain and the odd thunderstorm on the summits can change the picture quickly, so it pays to start early and keep an eye on the sky over the Grigne.

On the Lecco side there is also a piece of art history that few people associate with the lake: the Romanesque complex of San Pietro al Monte above Civate, which you reach on the way up Monte Cornizzolo. It was the sanctuary of the Benedictine abbey of Civate, built in the second half of the eleventh century with two opposing apses, and it keeps frescoes and stuccoes of griffins and chimeras whose dating is still debated between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Opening and visits are run by the Amici di San Pietro al Monte association, so if you want to see the interior it is worth checking the opening days before you climb.