- For other uses, see Lake Como (disambiguation).
Lake Como (Lago di Como in Italian, also known as Lario) is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At 410 metres deep, it is also one of the deepest lakes in Europe.
 Lake Como seen from the city of Como  The upside-down-Y-shaped Lake seen from the sky The lake has a very peculiar shape: that of an upside-down "Y". The northern branch begins at the town of Colico, while the towns of Como and Lecco sit at the ends of the southwestern and southeastern branches respectively. Lake Como is fed in large part by the Adda River, which enters the lake near Colico and flows out at Lecco. This geological conformation makes the southwestern branch a dead end, and so Como, unlike Lecco, is often flooded.
The lake's name
- The real Italian name is Lario, but this name is rarely used; it is usually called Lago di Como, literally "Lake of Como".
- In guidebooks the lake may be variously described as "Lake Como", "Lake of Como", or "Como Lake"
- As the town of Como is referred to as "Como", the lake is never referred to solely by this name. Strangely though, this is not true of another lake in Italy, Lake Garda. Even though Garda is a town on its shore, just as Como is a town on Lake Como's shore, you can refer to the lake simply as "Garda".
 Lake Como seen from Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, near the centre of the lake |
