The only island on Lake Como
In the Zoca de l'Oli, the sheltered bay between Ossuccio and Sala Comacina, lies the Isola Comacina, the only island on Lake Como. Small and wooded, it has a long and dramatic history: a Roman and then Byzantine fortress, in the Middle Ages it was a powerful community with numerous churches, allied with Milan against Como. In 1169 the people of Como took revenge, razing everything to the ground, and the bishop cast a curse on the island: "no more will bells ring, no more will stone be laid on stone, no one will be an innkeeper here, under pain of untimely death".
Today you can walk among the ruins of the medieval churches, including the basilica of Sant'Eufemia, in a quiet atmosphere among olive trees and the water. In the twentieth century the island was left to the King of Belgium, who returned it to Italy; three houses for artists, modern rationalist buildings, were built. On the island is a single restaurant, the Locanda dell'Isola Comacina, famous for its fixed menu that ends with the "rite of fire" to exorcise the curse.
Tip: boats leave from Sala Comacina and Ossuccio in a few minutes; the island is open from spring to autumn. On the shore, the Sacro Monte di Ossuccio is a UNESCO site.
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