Griante - Cadenabbia

Griante and Cadenabbia on lake Como

Griante is located on the western shore of Lake Como in a magnificent panoramic position facing the Bellagio peninsula, bordering Menaggio to the north while to the south bordering with the villages of Tremezzina. On the shores of the lake, we find the only village of the town Cadenabbia, famous for its historic hotels, prestigious villas and the port from where ferries set sail for Bellagio and Varenna. Some historical findings would seem to prove that these lands were already inhabited as early as the 5th century BC by the Celts and later occupied by Romans and Byzantines, followed by the Middle Ages when the town took the form of a fortified village with narrow alleys, arches and underpasses still partially visible.

Over the centuries the villas and hotels of Griante have been the home of illustrious personalities from all over the world, where Giuseppe Verdi wrote some of the arias of La Traviata during a sojourn in Villa Margherita and the German chancellor Konrad Adenauer considered Cadenabbia his second home. The list of princes and emperors who stayed in the town is impressive: Prince Umberto of Savoy, William II of Germany, Nicholas II of Russia, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Achille Ratti, later known as Pope Pius XI.

Beyond Villa Margherita, Villa Bonaventura built at the end of the 19th century by the architect Mantegazza and Villa La Collina built in 1899 on the remains of an ancient medieval tower, now the seat of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation all deserve mention. Also not to miss: Villa Maresi built in neo-Gothic style by modifying an ancient castle of the sixteenth century and Villa Greppi built in the eighteenth century, also known as Villa del Cedro. In the village of Griante stands the ancient church dedicated to Saints Nabore and Felice, while with a short excursion it is possible to reach the church of San Martino suspended on the homonymous stone in a splendid panoramic position. In Cadenabbia we can find the Anglican Church, founded in the nineteenth century at the behest of the large English community already present at the time.