Itineraries · Cultural · City walls on foot and the climb to Castel Baradello

Medieval Como: walls, towers and Castel Baradello

Como was destroyed by the Milanese in 1127 and within a few decades it rebuilt itself: the walls raised with Barbarossa’s help, the great gate of 1192, the Rusca family’s castle on the east side, the Broletto of the Comune. What remains of that world is three sides of the circuit, three towers on the south side, two Romanesque basilicas outside the centre and, on a hill above the city, the keep of the Baradello. This itinerary puts them in order, from the walls to the climb to the castle, and says for each stop what can really be seen today: several stops are closed or can be visited only on certain days.

The stops at a glance

Stop	What it is	Today
Medieval walls	the circuit rebuilt after 1127	seen from the avenues, no hours
Torre Gattoni	pentagonal tower of the south-west side	from outside only, fenced
Porta Torre	the gate of 1192	passage closed since 2022
Torre di San Vitale	tower of the east side	from outside only, fenced since 2021
Teatro Sociale	stands on the Castello della Torre Rotonda	hours on its page
Broletto	the medieval Comune’s palace	hours on its page
San Fedele, Sant’Abbondio, San Carpoforo	Romanesque basilicas	hours on their pages
Castel Baradello	Barbarossa’s keep	guided tour only, Sundays and holidays until 31 October 2026

How to plan the walk

The walk is split in two. The circuit and the centre can be done on foot on any day; Castel Baradello needs a Sunday or a public holiday. There is no signposted route or official length for the walls: you follow the perimeter along the avenues and the inner streets, in the order that follows. The south side is the only one still intact, and it is the best place to start.

The south side: Torre Gattoni, Porta Torre and San Vitale

You start from Torre Gattoni, at the south-west corner, where the south side of the walls begins. The tower is pentagonal and slightly leaning; it is the one where Canon Gattoni kept the physics laboratory discussed in the itinerary Volta’s Como. The wall that follows still shows the scarp, the sloping base that strengthened it, and the buttresses added for the weak ground of the filled-in ditch.

After about 280 metres, according to Camminacittà, you reach Porta Torre, the main gate of the walled city, completed in 1192. Since 2022 the passage under the arch has been forbidden, after a stone came loose from the top: the tower is looked at from piazza Vittoria, and the Comune has given no date for the works. The same goes for the Torre di San Vitale, at the opposite end of the south side, fenced since 2021. Next to it is the Museo Archeologico Paolo Giovio, whose rooms are currently closed for maintenance.

The east side: the Rusca castle

Past the Porta San Vitale you follow the wall in the public garden as far as the school in via Perti, where the visible remains end. A little further on stood the Castello della Torre Rotonda. Loterio II Rusca built it in 1284-1285, straddling the Federician walls: it served less to defend the city from outside than to keep it under control from within. The Visconti enlarged it from 1335 and joined it to the Cittadella Viscontea, which lasted until 1447, when Como pulled down its walls on the city side.

The castle was demolished in 1811 to make room for the Teatro Sociale. What remains are the perimeter walls leaning against the theatre and, under the stage, a stretch of the Federician wall.

The Comune’s centre: Broletto, San Giacomo and San Fedele

From via Pretorio you reach the corner with via Rodari, where the Torre Pantera stands, of uncertain date: most authors call it fourteenth-century, but the base may be older. Here opens the political and religious heart of medieval Como: the Broletto, built in 1215 as the seat of the Comune, the church of San Giacomo, the Duomo, begun in 1396. A little further on, in piazza San Fedele, the basilica of San Fedele is one of the city’s Romanesque churches.

To see works of medieval Como indoors, the Pinacoteca civica has a medieval section, with sculptures from Sant’Abbondio and San Fedele and frescoes from the Broletto and other buildings, according to the medieval route proposed by Oggi a Como, the Comune’s tourism portal.

Outside the walls: Sant’Abbondio, San Carpoforo and the Baradello

The Comune’s route ends with two Romanesque basilicas outside the walled city. The basilica of Sant’Abbondio, with five naves and two bell towers, was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095. The basilica of San Carpoforo stands at the foot of the Baradello, not far from piazza Camerlata.

From here you climb to Castel Baradello. The keep was raised under Frederick Barbarossa from 1158 on top of a Byzantine stronghold and saw the end of Napo Torriani, who died in a cage hung from the tower on 16 August 1278. You get there on foot, in 15-20 minutes from piazza Camerlata according to the Comune, and you enter only with the guided visit: in 2026 the tower opens on Sundays and public holidays until 31 October, and the Sundays left are 11, 18 and 25 October. Of the wall that in the Middle Ages closed the valley of Como from the south, the Murata, only the first stretch remains under the outer circuit.

Practical information

Towers: Torre Gattoni, Porta Torre and Torre di San Vitale are fenced off for fear of falling stones, as a Svolta Civica motion of 11 September 2026 recalls. News about works and reopenings changes: check the pages and the local sources again.
Castel Baradello: hours, prices and booking are on its page and hold for the 2026 season; they must be checked again for 2027.
Hours and visits for the Broletto, Teatro Sociale, basilicas, Duomo, museums and the Pinacoteca are on their pages.
Broletto Info Point, via Pretorio: +39 031 304137.
To get to Como see the guide Getting to Lake Como.