Como Cathedral

Como Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Como's cathedral sits between the old town and the lakefront, a few minutes from the ferry landings and the funicular station, and it is free to enter. Guided walks of the town cover it with the Romanesque church a street away, the Roman grid and the rationalist buildings of the 1930s, and take about two hours. Most visitors arrive from Milan for the lake and give the town half an hour, which is a pity, because this cathedral is among the more interesting in Lombardy and takes forty minutes properly.

Boat tickets, the funicular to Brunate and the lake buses all start within five minutes of the door, so the church fits neatly before or after a crossing. The silk museum on the southern edge of town needs a separate trip. Nothing needs booking and the church closes only for services. The ferry timetable thins out sharply after six, so check the last boat before lingering.

Visiting Como Cathedral: what to see

Building began in 1396 and finished with the dome in 1770, which means the church moves from Gothic at the west end through Renaissance in the transepts to a full baroque dome by Filippo Juvarra, and does it without ever looking like a patchwork. The marble front is late Gothic with a rose window and a screen of carved figures, and it includes something unique: two seated statues flanking the main door represent Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger, both born in Como, both pagans, honoured on the front of a cathedral because the city was proud of them.

Inside, the walls carry a set of large Renaissance tapestries woven in Ferrara, Florence and Antwerp, hung between the piers, and altarpieces by Bernardino Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari. The dome was rebuilt after a fire in 1935 that started in scaffolding during restoration. The tapestries are rotated through the year and only part of the set hangs at any one time.

Como Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The church is open through the day with a break at lunch, and mornings are quietest. Como fills with day visitors from Milan between eleven and five, especially at weekends and throughout the summer, and the lakefront is the crowded part while the old town stays calmer. Spring and autumn are the best seasons on the lake; winter is quiet, misty and cheap, and many boats run a reduced service.

The Christmas lights and market fill the squares in December and the town is at its most attractive then. Organ concerts are held occasionally. The funicular to Brunate takes seven minutes and gives the view down over the cathedral roof and the lake, which is the photograph worth having. Allow forty minutes inside. A guided visit of the roof and the dome gallery runs in summer and is booked at the sacristy.