The Travelling Celts

Serene Lake Como

by Michael Cameron

Lake Como, in Northern Italy’s Lombardy region, is an area known for its dramatic scenery, set against he foothills of the Alps. The lake is shaped like an upside-down Y, with three slender branches that meet at the resort town of Bellagio. At the bottom of the southwest branch lies the city of Como, home to Renaissance architecture and a funicular that travels up to the mountain town of Brunate.

The death of Benito Mussolini, the deposed Italian fascist dictator, occurred on 28 April 1945, in the final days of World War II in Europe, when he was summarily executed by an Italian partisan in the small village of Giulino di Mezzegra, which lies on the shores of Lake Como. The generally accepted version of events is that Mussolini was shot by Walter Audisio, a communist partisan who used the nom de guerre of "Colonel Valerio".However, since the end of the war, the circumstances of Mussolini's death, and the identity of his killer, have been subjects of continuing confusion, dispute and controversy in Italy. Il Duce wasn't the only one to meet his maker there, much of his entourage were subject to the same fate and the bullet holes can still be seen in the wall where execustions took place. walking through the village harbour was quite surreal.

With its spectacular coast, picturesque villages and its glorious sunshine, it's no surprise that the Lake has been drawing in an A-list crowd for decades. Famous names including George Clooney , Madonna and Richard Branson have all famously owned homes there, not to mention it continues to be a firm celebrity favourite for a holiday.

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