Isola Comacina is a small wooded island of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

’s Lake Como, administratively a part of the commune of Ossuccio. It is located close to the western shore of the Como arm of the lake in front of a gulf known as ''Zoca de l'oli'', a Lombard name referring to the local small-scale production of

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

. In the late 6th century (c. 587) the island was a remaining Roman stronghold under Francio, a subordinate of Narses; though the areas surrounding Lake Como were entirely controlled by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. The island was besieged for a good deal of time by the

under Authari who released Francio to flee back to Narses' capital at

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. The Lombards found the island to contain "many riches" deposited for safekeeping by local Roman loyalists. The island was invaded in 1169 by

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

and soldiers from the town of Como. In 1175, Vidulfo, the Bishop of Como, cursed the island with the following words, "The bells will never ring, the rocks will never be placed one over the other, nobody will do here the work of the publican, the punishment a violent death." In 1919 the island was given to Belgium, in homage to King Albert I. The island was returned the following year. Pietro Lingeri built three houses on the island in 1939. His idea was to turn the island into a colony for artists. The houses were built in a rationalist style, made from local materials and without much decoration. The island now consists of a restaurant, cafe, a collection of archaeological sites and the three artist houses.

References

External links

Isola Comacina Official Website
Islands of Lombardy Lake islands of Italy {{Lombardy-geo-stub Former Belgian colonies States and territories established in 1919 States and territories disestablished in 1920