Church
Basilica of San Fedele
Volta had been dead for just one week when Como gathered inside this church to decide how he would be remembered. A young priest arrived with a commemorative poem—and soon wrote the inventor’s first biography.
Why it is worth the detour
One week after Volta’s death, Como held a civic tribute to him inside this basilica. A commemorative poem commissioned for the occasion led young priest Tommaso Bianchi to write the inventor’s first biography, helping turn Volta into a public legend.
The Basilica of San Fedele is a Romanesque church dating from 1120, located in the center of Como. It is a hidden gem with historical significance related to Alessandro Volta.
The people behind this address
Documented connections, not celebrity trivia.
Pope Innocent XI
Запись о крещении Бенедетто Одескальки (май 1611) хранится в базилике Сан-Феделе.
Tommaso Bianchi
He composed a poem for the posthumous tribute and published an early biography of Volta in 1829.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
50 m
Piazza San Fedele
A grain deal is under way, the square is packed, and timber upper floors jut over the traders as if the buildings want in on the bargaining. Beneath them may be the footprint of Roman Como’s forum.
100 m
Terragni Family Home and Studio
In 1927, Giuseppe and Attilio Terragni opened an architectural practice on the ground floor of their family home. One address now held domestic life, bold professional ambitions, and—later—a troubling connection to Fascist municipal power.
200 m
Church of San Donnino
A newborn is carried in for baptism; eighty-two years later, the same church holds his funeral. Between those two ceremonies, Alessandro Volta reportedly packed San Donnino with Sunday catechism lessons so popular that some young listeners could not find room.
200 m
Roman Baths of Como
A car noses in looking for a space; one level below, a Roman bathing complex waits under the garage. Como delivers antiquity in wonderfully deadpan packaging.
250 m
Teatro Sociale
It is 1944. Milan’s La Scala has been damaged in the war, and Como’s former cinema is handed an extraordinary role: alternative opera house.
250 m
Como Civic Art Gallery
At number 84, you came looking for Como’s town art gallery and found it inside a 17th-century palazzo. The building gets equal billing with the art.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.