The Cadorna Line
First World War forts survive complete because they were never used.
Ottantafame — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ottantafame — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ottantafame — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ottantafame — CC BY-SA 4.0
A regional park on the wooded hills west of the city of Como, running directly along the Swiss border and looking over the lake and the city. Its value is twofold. The first is natural: oak and chestnut woods and marked walking routes reaching summits that look over Lake Como from an angle most visitors never see. The second is archaeological: here lies Como Orico, the Celtic-Gaulish settlement that preceded the Roman city, its remains scattered through the park along with prehistoric rock carvings. It also holds military remains of the twentieth century: the Cadorna Line — a network of trenches and forts built by the Italian army in the First World War against an Austrian attack through Switzerland that never came. The fortifications survive almost complete precisely because they were never used, and are walked today as trails. Open and free, and needing half a day.
First World War forts survive complete because they were never used.
Prehistoric, scattered through the park.
Summits most visitors never reach.
The hills west of Como on the Swiss border
A network of fortifications built by the Italian army between 1916 and 1918 along the Swiss border in northern Lombardy: trenches, gun positions, tunnels and military roads running hundreds of kilometres. Its purpose was to repel a possible Austro-German attack breaching Swiss neutrality. That attack never came, so not a shot was fired from these works. The result is that they survive in excellent condition, and parts have been restored as historical walking routes.
The city sits at the southern tip of the lake: Como cathedral with its Gothic-Renaissance mixture, the medieval city wall, and the Tempio Voltiano dedicated to Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery and a son of the city. From it a funicular climbs to the village of Brunate. And boats run to Bellagio, Varenna and the lake villages — the experience people come for.
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