The architectural complex which constitutes the Priory of Piona, generally known as the Piona Abbey, is located on the eastern shore of Lake Como, in the territory belonging to the municipality of Colico. The Abbey is nestled within a landscape of exceptional, poignant beauty, on the tip of the small peninsula of Olgiasca. The original church of Saint Justina was built right at the heart of the Medieval period, followed a few centuries later by the construction of the priory itself. The abbey complex became part of the religious-political system‐which answered to Cluny and to the reform movement. The architecture of the abbey complex can be considered of the Lombard Romanesque style with transalpine influences and details reminiscent of French Gothic of Cluniac inspiration.

The complex of the church and convent of Sant’Antonio overlooks the square with the same name, where the road leading to the San Marco pass originates. It offers the visitor a joyful fusion and superimposition of Baroque and Renaissance styles.
The first church was built in 1383 and was dedicated to Saint Anthony the Abbott and to Saint Martha. In 1457 it was flanked by a convent for Dominican monks.
The church façade has Baroque details. The principal elements are the prothyrus, or portico, and the entrance portal designed by Francesco Ventretta in 1517. Other embellishments include a Pietà in high relief and a Nativity by Gaudenzio Ferrari. The interior is comprised of a single nave surmounted by a heavy vaulted ceiling. It is still possible to admire the original apse and the eight frescoed chapels.
Adjacent to the church there is the convent with its two cloisters.

A modern green area has replaced a former degraded industrial lot close to Colico’s lakefront. 

It was inaugurated in June 2021with the name of Parco Paride Cariboni, in memory of the local entrepreneur, very invested in the territory, whose factories stood on the site.

The area, measuring roughly 4800 square meters, was reclaimed by the former owner and acquired by the Municipality. It now houses a beautiful park with cycle and pedestrian paths, a tourist InfoPoint kiosk and a structure dedicated to bike sharing.  It is a contemporary space, located in a central position, easily accessible and well connected for those who want to reach and visit the Forte di Montecchio, the Forte Fuentes and the Torre di Fontanedo, for tourists arriving “via land “with the railway and the local Public Transport lines, and for residents who wish to reach the library, the auditorium and the beach. A new place, open and full of services for everyone.

The small temple, whose construction dates back to the last quarter of the tenth century, consists of a tiny square nave (3.46 x 3.52 m) completed by an apse. The story of its construction oscillates between history and legend. It is believed that Fedele was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity.

After fleeing Milan in 284 d.C. with some companions to escape the persecutions of Maximilian, he was the only one to reach Como unharmed, where he embarked and then sought refuge at the foot of a mountain near Samolaco. However, he was discovered and, refusing to deny the Christian faith, was beheaded, and buried there. In that same place the population erected a small oratory to house the relics of the martyr.

With its small size, 6.2 x 4.5 meters, and a façade leaning against the rock and the semicircular apse facing east, it is the oldest Romanesque monument in Lombardy. The interior preserves a beautiful painting datable between the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century, depicting Christ Pantocrator. Worthy of attention is also the beautiful cross vault, considered among the oldest in the diocese of Como. The relative difficulty of access and the repeated restoration interventions have contributed to safeguard the building and the magic of the place.

The restaurant L’Ontano opened in Colico in 2005, in one of the most charming and panoramic locations of the northern part of the lake, also known as Alto Lario. It sits in the shade of a large alder tree, which has dominated the beach since decades and has become its namesake.

With its breath-taking position, surrounded by greenery and with a lake view, it offers a comfortable indoor dining room, a spacious veranda and a wide outdoor area where one can relax and spend quality time.

Among the amenities, there are a Windsurf and Kitesurf school, with sports equipment, canoes and bikes to rent, a bar and ice-cream parlour, as well as a fully fitted camping area.

The Parish church of Saint George was erected on December 22,1914 in the centre of Colico Piano (Colicum by ancient denomination) to replace an older sacred building located in Piazza San Giorgio.

The patronal celebration is on April 23rd.

The mosaic of San Giorgio slaying the dragon, executed by the Valtellina sculptor Lydia Silvestri in 1965, stands out on the main façade, commissioned by Don Salvatore Scherini.

The Parish church of Saint Bernardino is located in the hamlet of Villatico (Villarichum by ancient denomination). The patronal celebration is on May 20th.

The church dates back to the second half of the 15th century, immediately after the canonization of San Bernardino, known for looking after the plague victims.

It presents a basilican structure, with three naves; the high altar, built with Varenna marble, almost certainly dates back to the eighteen century.

There are many frescos on the walls, including the central one depicting San Bernardino, Jaco’s dream of the staircase and the struggle with the angel, the Christ in Glory by Tagliaferri.

There are also valuable pieces such as the statue of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary and the baptismal font by Roberto Bricalli, from Talamona.

At the end of the nineteenth century the Cascina Folletto stood isolated with its few buildings grouped in a small village, already indicated in the maps of the Lario since the early nineteenth century. The farmhouse dominated, on one side, the final stretch of the lake towards the Pian di Spagna and the mouth of the Adda riverand, and on the other the poor village of Colico, surrounded mostly by unhealthy marshes in which stagnated the waters that descended, without outlets, towards the lake from the dominant Monte Legnone 

The dawn of a new era of social redemption and education began for Colico when the engineer Stefano Lattuada, Milanese superintendent of the construction of the very difficult stretch of the Bellano-Colico railway line, fell in love with Montecchio Sud and wanted to build a villa almost “with its feet in the lake”, and create a farm siding the already existing hamlet of Cascina Folletto. For the construction of the house Lattuada was inspired by the famous chalet built in Lausanne in 1874 by the well-known architect French Viollet-le-Duc. The villa built by Lattuada shows the year 1914 engraved under the windows, so to speak the last flower of Alto Lario’s “belle époque”.

In 1917 the entire Lattuada property, which in addition to the buildings included meadows and woods for about thirty hectares, was purchased by the Stampa family, who in turn, in 1934, sold it to Umberto Osio, Paolo Stampa’s comrade in arms during the First World War .

A new life began for this property: the breeding of Brunalpina cows and the cultivation of the vineyard continued, the wooded area was expanded , with new essences not alien to the Lombard and lake tradition This created work for  many peasants and lumberjacks, helped in a decisive way the construction and operation of the kindergarten of the parish of Laghetto, and also allowed the donation of a magnificent piano (a half-tail  Steinway from the Thirties ) to the Music school in  Villatico.

And, above all, as soon as new land was put up for sale, the boundaries of the property  were  expanded, in order to avoid the dangers of building speculation, which from 1950 began to look at it with longing eyes.

The Osio family has thus managed to create a solid territorial entity of over fifty hectares, which have remained intact until now, without new buildings, a precious, if not unique, testimony of the natural beauty of the Alto Lario.