Lake Como Article Index for
Lake Como
Articles about
Lake Como
Website Links For
Lake Como
 

Information About

Lake Como




Lake Como (''Lago di Como'' in Italian , also known as ''Lario'') is a Lake of Glacial origin in Lombardy , Italy . It has an area of 146 Km&2 , making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore . At 410 m deep it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe and the bottom of the lake is more than 200 m below sea-level.

The lake has a very peculiar shape: that of an upside-down "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico , while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. The small towns of Bellagio , Menaggio and Varenna are situated at the intersection of the three branches of the lake: a triangular boat service operates between them.

Lake Como is fed in large part by the Adda River , which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded. The beauty of this scenery was the main reason Italian/American pop icon Gwen Stefani 's music video, " Cool ", was shot here. Also, actor/director/producer George Clooney bought a $7 million villa there in 2001.


THE LAKE'S NAME

  • The real Italian name is ''Lario'', but this name is rarely used; it is usually called ''Lago di Como'', literally "Lake of Como".

  • In guidebooks the lake may be variously described as "Lake Como", "Lake of Como", or "Como Lake"

  • As the town of Como is referred to as "Como", the lake is never referred to solely by this name. Strangely though, this is not true of another lake in Italy, Lake Garda . Even though Garda is a town on its shore, just as Como is a town on Lake Como's shore, you ''can'' refer to the lake simply as "Garda". Obviously this puzzles historians to this day.







SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS