“Lake
Como (Lago di Como in Italian, also known as Lario; Latin: Larius Lacus) is a
lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it
the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over
400m deep it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe and the bottom of the lake is
more than 200 m below sea-level
Lake Como is shaped like 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 mountainous pre-alpine territory between the two southern arms of the
lake—between Como, Bellagio and Lecco—is known as the Larian Triangle, or
Triangolo lariano. The source of the river Lambro is here. At the centre of the
triangle, the town of Canzo is the seat of the Comunità montana del Triangolo
Lariano, an association of the 31 municipalities which represent the 71,000
inhabitants of the area.”
Island of the Lake
Como:
* Comacina island
