What is Tremezzina known for?

Seventeen acres of gardens around a late-1600s villa, with the largest rhododendron and azalea collection in the central lake. Lake Como's only island, the wealthiest place on the lake before Como destroyed it in 1169, untouched since. Fourteen Baroque chapels above Ossuccio, inscribed by UNESCO in 2003 alongside eight other Sacri Monti in Lombardy and Piedmont.

Tremezzina is a comune in the province of Como, Lombardy region of Italy, about 75 kilometers from Monza.

Lombardy · Como

Tremezzina

The 2014 merger of four Lake Como villages that holds Villa Carlotta, Isola Comacina and the UNESCO Sacro Monte di Ossuccio.

75 km / 47 mi

Nearest hub (Monza)

4,993

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Tremezzina was created on 25 May 2014 from the merger of Lenno, Mezzegra, Ossuccio and Tremezzo, four villages along the central western shore of Lake Como facing Bellagio. The new comune holds Villa Carlotta, built in the late 1600s for the Marquis Giorgio Clerici and later named for Princess Carlotta who received it in 1850, with seventeen acres of gardens and one of the great rhododendron collections in Italy. Isola Comacina, the lake's only island, was the wealthiest place on the lake before Como's destruction of it in 1169; nothing has been built there since, and it is now an archaeological site. The Sacro Monte di Ossuccio is one of nine Lombard and Piedmontese Sacri Monti inscribed by UNESCO in 2003: fourteen Baroque chapels built between 1635 and 1710, climbing the prealpine slope two hundred meters above the lake to a sanctuary of 1532. Mussolini was captured in Dongo north of here and shot in Giulino di Mezzegra on 28 April 1945; the black cross by the road still marks the spot.

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Gallery

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Known for

Villa Carlotta
Late seventeenth-century villa built for the Marquis Giorgio Clerici, with seventeen acres of gardens, more than 150 rhododendron and azalea species, and a sculpture collection.
Isola Comacina
Lake Como's only island, the wealthiest medieval settlement on the lake until its destruction by Como in 1169, now an archaeological site.
Sacro Monte di Ossuccio
UNESCO site of fourteen Baroque chapels built 1635-1710, climbing two hundred meters above the lake to the Beata Vergine del Soccorso sanctuary of 1532.
Abbazia dell'Acquafredda
Cistercian abbey above Lenno, founded in the twelfth century, with a small church and cloister set in the woods on the slope above the lake.
Greenway del Lago di Como
Ten-kilometer walking route between Colonno and Cadenabbia, passing through all four founding villages of Tremezzina along the western shore.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through October is the working season on the central lake. April, May and September into October are the strongest: the rhododendrons and azaleas of Villa Carlotta peak in late April, the lake holds afternoon warmth without humidity, the Greenway is open and dry. July and August are full: ferries between Bellagio and Tremezzo run at capacity, parking near Villa Carlotta is gone by ten, and the Sacro Monte climb sits in the afternoon shade. Winters are mild on the shore but quiet; many villas and trattorie close. The lake fog of early morning, the bruma, is the photograph that Lake Como visitors rarely see.