Lake Como

Lake Como is the same age as the Ice Age, one of the legendary lakes of the Apennine Peninsula. The locals also use its first Dolati name, Lario. Both the names Lago Lario and Lago di Como speak of its depth. And Como really delights with its size.

The length is about 46 km.
The maximum width reaches about 4.5 km in the widest places. The lake has a very meandering shape, so there is no exact width.
The area is 145 km2.
The maximum depth reaches as much as 410 m!
The average depth is 150 m.
The volume of water is 22.5 km3.
The coastline is 170 km long.
The height above sea level is 198 m.

In the middle of the lake stands a single island — Komachina. Compared to the size of the lake, it is very tiny: from 500 meters to 1 kilometer across.

Lake Como is located in the Italian region of Lombardy, at the northern tip of the famous "boot". If you want to find out what attracts tourists and world celebrities to the mysterious "Y" (this is how the reservoir looks in pictures from space), drive north from Milan, and after just 40 kilometers you will discover a magnificent view of the blue lake, framed by green mountains and rocky cliffs. The fertile lands around Como are covered with vineyards, thickets of chestnuts and fig trees, olive trees and cypresses. Vegetation disappears in places, exposing areas of limestone and granite rocks.

The ancient Romans saw Como in much the same way. Only there were not so many buildings on its shores. Except that the villas of the poet Virgil, the politician and writer Pliny the Younger and other famous people of that era flaunted the water surface. They emphasized the exclusive status of their owners. There was also the city of Como in those years, which still welcomes guests on the shore of the reservoir. It was founded on the southwestern shore of the lake of the same name more than two thousand years ago, and therefore is now attractive both for those who go to Italy to enjoy the beautiful views, and for lovers of antiquity. Numerous celebrity hunters also come here, because the Lake Como area is known as a place of attraction for world VIPs - singers, politicians, actors, whose boats and yachts surf the waters of the reservoir all year round. For ordinary tourists, water taxis, steamboats and ferries are on duty at the lake. Water transport connects small resort towns located on different shores of the lake.

Despite the fact that Como has the glory of a corner of pristine nature, it is still not without problems related to human activity. The constant activity of tourists harms the ecology of the lake. In addition, like other glacial lakes, sooner or later Como will face the risk of shallowing and waterlogging.

Scientific studies conducted at the end of the 20th century identified Lake Como as eutrophic, that is, characterized by a rich content of plankton and other nutrients, as well as a lack of oxygen. It identified increased concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, which becomes the main condition for the "flowering" of reservoirs, for example, the reproduction of dangerous blue-green algae in them. This quality of lake water threatened the biological diversity of the reservoir, but valuable commercial whitefish, trout and carp are found here. In recent years, thanks to the efforts of local authorities, the ecological balance of the lake has gradually returned to normal. The phosphorus content has decreased significantly due to the law on the prohibition of the use of phosphorus-containing detergents. Almost all parts of the coast that can be used for swimming successfully undergo an annual environmental assessment (the only exception is the beach of Como). And in general, experts assess the condition of the lake between "satisfactory" and "good", leaning towards the latter.

However, the Italian heritage association Italia Nostra still believes that Lake Como is not going through the best of times. The modern threat has even been coined the name "Clooney Effect." The fact is that since Hollywood actor George Clooney acquired a local villa, there has been a flood of people who want to buy apartments in the neighborhood. Due to the hype, construction companies began to actively develop projects for building the shores of the lake. And this is very worrying for environmentalists and local residents. Another factor increasing the anthropogenic load on the lake ecosystem is the numerous migrants who intend to cross the Lake Como border to neighboring Switzerland.