Dongo, Lake Como: what to see when you arrive by boat
Palazzo Manzi, the 1945 lakefront and the lakeside walk to Gravedona. The captain of Lario Water Taxi on Dongo, seen the way you approach it from the water.
Dongo, on Lake Como, is the upper lake village where a chapter of Italian history closed in April 1945. It sits on the west shore, on the flat land where the Albano stream runs into the lake. I take guests up here in my Venetian water taxi when we head north, where the Lario widens and the mountains get taller.
From the lake: Dongo seen from the boat
Heading up from Menaggio, the shoreline changes. The lake opens out and ahead of you rise Monte Legnone and the northern Grigna. They are the two peaks the town council itself mentions when it describes Dongo, and from the deck you see why.
You spot the village by the open square on the pier and the front of Palazzo Manzi, a few steps from the water. Up here it feels different from the central lake. Fewer grand villas, more everyday village life: people on the promenade, boats on their moorings, the bell tower of Santo Stefano a little further back.
How to get to Dongo by boat
By boat is the easiest way and the best one. On the Full Day Dolce Far Niente we have the whole day to come up here without rushing, step ashore and carry on to Gravedona or the Colico shore. Navigazione Laghi ferries and hydrofoils also call at the Dongo landing stage, with links from Como, Menaggio, Bellagio, Varenna and Colico.
In winter the public service thins out and it is usually hydrofoils only. Timetables and fares change with the seasons, so check navigazionelaghi.it before you set off.
History of Dongo: from the Via Regina to 1945
The Via Regina, the Roman road that climbed the west shore towards Chiavenna, ran through here. In the Middle Ages Dongo was a walled town, and a short stretch of wall with an arched gateway still stands in Piazza Vertua Gentile. In 1534 it joined Gravedona and Sorico in the Tre Pievi, the Three Parishes, and the three red crosses on the town crest still recall it.
Then came iron. Mines in the valley are mentioned in a document as early as 1465, and the Rubini, Scalini and Falck company, founded in 1839, grew into the Falck steel group. The old ironworks buildings are still visible across the stream.
On 27 April 1945 partisans stopped a retreating German column between Musso and Dongo. In the square they found Benito Mussolini, who was taken inside Palazzo Manzi and placed under arrest. The next day the Fascist leaders captured with him were shot on the lakefront. According to the End of the War Museum, the railing is still the original one and still carries the bullet marks.
What to see in Dongo, Lake Como
- 01Palazzo Manzi and the Sala d'Oro
A Napoleonic-era palazzo designed by Pietro Gilardoni, given to the town by Giuseppina Manzi in 1937 and now the town hall. Plain on the outside. Inside is the Sala d'Oro, the Golden Hall, two storeys high with a gallery and a Parnassus painted on the ceiling by a pupil of Appiani.
- 02The End of the War Museum
Housed in Palazzo Manzi, in the very rooms where the events happened. Finds, documents, eyewitness accounts and film footage tell the story of the Resistance on Lake Como and the last days of Fascism. It keeps regular hours in the warmer months and opens by appointment in winter: check the official website.
- 03Santa Maria in Martinico
A small 11th-century Romanesque church in the old town, single nave, simple facade with a little cross-shaped window. It keeps a gilded silver cross from 1513.
- 04Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Lacrime
Just over the bridge on the Albano. Tradition dates it to 6 September 1553, when an image of the Madonna and Child that had survived a flood of the stream began to weep. The Franciscan friary stands next to it.
- 05Santo Stefano and the walk to Gravedona
The parish church, rebuilt in the 18th century over a Romanesque building. Behind it starts the lakeside path for walkers and cyclists to Gravedona: about fifty minutes on foot, flat and wheelchair accessible.
When to visit Dongo
Spring and early autumn are my favourite months up here. In May the peaks often still carry snow and the lake is calm in the morning. In September and October the air turns clear and the mountains across the water look closer.
On summer afternoons the Breva usually picks up, the wind that blows up the lake from the south. For the run to the upper lake I like to leave early and come back at an easy pace. If the museum is on your list, remember it needs booking in winter.
Places near Dongo
Right next door is Gravedona, the other of the Three Parishes, and you can even walk there along the shore. Across the lake you can see Colico, and a little further south the Abbazia di Piona. Heading back to the central lake you pass Menaggio and then Varenna.
