Duomo di Como

Duomo di Como rises in Como as a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the seat of the Bishop of Como. Its marble west façade presents a rose window, three sculpted portals, and statues of Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger, both associated with the city. The building stretches 87 metres in length, while its width ranges from 36 to 56 metres.

Construction began in 1396 on the site of a Romanesque cathedral, and successive phases brought Gothic, Renaissance, and Rococo forms together. The Latin-cross plan contains a central nave, two aisles, a Renaissance transept, and a cupola rising 75 metres above the crossing. Inside, twelve clustered pillars divide the space, while nine late-sixteenth-century tapestries and paintings by Bernardino Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari add colour and history. Filippo Juvarra completed the hemispherical cupola with its lantern in 1770.

Look for the northern porta della rana, or Door of the Frog, shaped by Tommaso and Giacomo Rodari around 1505. Their marble altars continue the sculptural language indoors, linking the detailed façade with the cathedral’s richly worked interior.