A little bit of history on Brunate
At the start of the 1800’s, the village was made up of just a handful of houses and villas. Up until the second half of the 19th century, Brunate was a mountain village, isolated from the town of Como below and an idyllic peaceful retreat. In the second half of the 19th century, Brunate transformed into a holiday resort, thanks to its geographical position, its panoramic views and climate.
The turning point for the village was the construction of the cable car in 1984. The first pods to go up from the Piazza de Gasperi square in Como took 20 minutes to cover a distance of 1074 metres, with an elevation gain of around 500m and a 33% to 55% slope gradient. Today, the same journey takes just 6 minutes to reach Brunate from Como.
However, the cable car was not intended as a transport service for the people of Brunate but as a way of promoting tourism. As a result, Brunate experienced a significant increase in construction between the end of the 19th century and the start of the next as villas and hotels began to appear. These new buildings sought out the best views over the lake and towards the Alps to the west. Brunate is now affectionately known as “the balcony of the Alps”.
An unmissable stop on your Italy walking holiday
Once in Brunate, you can enjoy splendid views expanding as far as the Swiss Alps, the Lombard plains and the Italian Piemond region. The main panoramic viewpoints are the Belvedere of via Pirotta, Piazza Bonacossa and the large cemetery of the S. Andrea church, the Pissarottino, the roundabout of via Monterosa, the roundabout of the S. Maurizio Marenghi Park and the Volta lighthouse.
There are also many monuments of historical and artistic interest (the Volta lighthouse, the parish church, the eclectic ‘Liberty’ style villas).
The Volta Lighthouse: amazing views to admire over the mountains and lake on your self-guided walking trip in Italy
The Volta lighthouse “ Faro Voltiano”, as its name suggests, is a tribute from the town of Como to its most famous countryman: Alessandro Volta. It was erected and built by the engineer Gabriele Giussani in 1927 in San Maurizio, Brunate. The monument has an octagonal plan. Inside the high and slender building there is a spiral staircase with 143 steps. In a few minutes you reach the top of the lighthouse from where you can admire the panorama. The view is simply breathtaking! On a clear day, you can see the Mount Viso, the Mount Rose massif and the summits of the Swiss Alps culminating at over 4 000m.
The lighthouse was placed at the top of Monte Tre Croci, in the hamlet of San Maurizio (for this reason it is also known as San Maurizio Lighthouse), to mark the the centenary of the death of Alessandro Volta. It was inaugurated on 8 September 1927 as a symbol of the modernization of the lighting systems of the city of Como, which was gradually being converted to electricity. During the day, the sober and austere silhouette of the lighthouse emerges from Monte Tre Croci, like a sentinel watching over the lake and the town of Como below. At night, the lighthouse projects beams of white, red and green light into the sky, the three colours of the Italian flag.
See below our Italy lake region walking tours around Lake Como and Brunate
- Dolce vita on lake como: walking from Lenno
- Dolce vita on Lake Como: walking from Bellagio
- Walking holiday: the best of Lake Como
- Walking from Lake Como to Lake Maggiore
- Hidden gems of the Italian lakes
