COMO: LINO GELPI PROMENADE, Como: Lino Gelpi Promenade

Hello, I am Rick, your personal guide, and together with MyWoWo I’d like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world: the Lino Gelpi promenade.

Among the most fascinating stretches to walk along Como's lakefront is the splendid Lino Gelpi promenade, a kilometer-long pedestrian street named after a lawyer who was mayor of the city from 1956 to 1970.

I suggest you start from the side near the Idroscalo Internazionale waterfront and walk towards the picturesque Villa Olmo at the end of the route.

Just imagine that Lino Gelpi had the courage to expropriate, from the owners of the villas that overlooked the lake in that stretch, the portion of the garden that gave them direct access to the lake in order to create a path that would allow even ordinary citizens and tourists to enjoy the splendid landscape and admire the many historic 18th-century residences with their lush gardens and parks that overlook it.

One of the most beautiful residences you come across is Villa Saporiti, which with the smaller Villa Gallia, houses the offices of the Province. You should know that Villa Saporiti, in neoclassical style, is nicknamed 'La Rotonda' because of its elegant façade, where a protruding central body stands out, decorated with Doric columns, roundels and statues depicting deities. It was built between 1783 and 1793 to a design by the architect Leopoldo Pollack, who designed some of the most beautiful 18th century palaces and villas in northern Italy. Just think that a truly illustrious personage stayed here in 1797: Napoleon Bonaparte.

Another magnificent mansion is Villa Revel Parravicini, now a coveted wedding venue, the only one on the route to still have a private dock. It was built in 1770 by Count Alessandro della Torre, but in the 20th century it was acquired by the Piedmontese general Genova Thaon de Revel and eventually passed on to his granddaughter Camilla Parravicini Sossnovsky.

I bid you farewell with an interesting fact: between the 18th and 19th centuries, Lake Como became a destination for many nobles, artists and intellectuals from all over Europe, and this led to the construction of many of the splendid residences that can still be admired today. You should know, however, that the first illustrious character known to have resided on these shores lived more than 2000 years ago: it was the Roman poet Caninus Rufus.