a city in Lombardy, in northern Italy. Como is situated on the picturesque southwestern shore of Lake Como, in the alpine piedmont of Lombardy. It is the administrative center of the province of Como. Population, 95,600 (1970). Railroad junction. Silk, machine tools and instruments, and clocks are produced; there also are electrical-engineering and wood-products industries. Como is the site of Romanesque churches, a Gothic town hall (13th century), and a Gothic cathedral (14th to 18th centuries). Examples of the city’s modern architecture are buildings by G. Terragni (from the late 1920’s to the 1930’s).
a lake at the southern foot of the Alps in northern Italy, at an altitude of 198 m. Length, 50 km; width, up to 4.5 km; area, 146 sq km; maximum depth, 410 m. The basin is tectonic and glacial in origin. The shores are mostly precipitous, rocky, and high. In the central part the lake branches into two arms. The Adda River, a left tributary of the Po, flows through the lake. In the north the Mera-Liro River drains into Lake Como. There is fishing; trout, whitefish, and carp are bred. Lake Como is navigable. Many resorts are located along the lake, the principal ones being the cities of Como and Lecco.