In the heart of Tremezzina, on the shores of Lago di Como (Lake Como), lies an extraordinary duo of sites: the Antiquarium Museum Collection and the Island of Comacina.
The Antiquarium is located in Ossuccio, inside the medieval Hospitalis de Stabio, a building that once offered shelter to pilgrims travelling along the Via Regina. Opened in 2013, the museum honours Luigi Mario Belloni and Mariuccia Zecchinelli, the archaeologists who led excavations on the old island. The museum houses over 200 archaeological finds, including architectural fragments, Roman and early Christian inscriptions, fresco fragments from religious buildings, everyday objects such as ceramics, glass, coins and tools. One collection that narrates the life and spirituality from Roman and Medieval ages on this area.
A short boat trip leads to Isola Comacina; the only island on Lake Como, long just 600 metres, once a strategic and religious centre, site of churches and settlements partly visible today, like the basilica di Sant’Eufemia, an early Chistian baptistery and a medieval church that reveal its ancient importance. The island was destroyed in 1169 by the people of Como allied with Frederic Barabarossa, and remained deserted for centuries. During the 20th century, restauration and archaeology excavation works gave back to the island its historic values. Today, it hosts an artist’s colony in three Rationalist styled houses, designed by Pietro Lingeri for the Brera Academy.
A visit to the Antiquarium and Isola Comacina immerses visitors in millennia of history, where archaeology meets the beauty of the landscape that tell us about the Lake’s older soul.