The Antiquarium of the Isola Comacina stands in Ossuccio, in via Somalvico, inside the old Hospitalis de Stabio, next to the church of Santa Maria Maddalena with its famous bell tower. It gathers the finds from the excavations on the island and in the territory of Ossuccio and is the recommended starting point for visiting the island: the entrance ticket is bought here, and the taxi boat leaves from here. According to the Comune of Tremezzina, in 2026 it opens from May to October, Thursday to Sunday, from 11 to 17.
The museum
It opened in May 2013 and is dedicated to Luigi Mario Belloni and Mariuccia Zecchinelli, scholars who studied the island for over fifty years. The sources give different days for the inauguration: Friday 24 May for ArteVarese and Friday 31 May for Arci Ecoinformazioni. The display is the result of a recovery promoted by Regione Lombardia, financed by Fondazione Cariplo and the Province of Como, with the restoration project signed by the architects Roberto Segattini and Matteo Motta, within the territorial development framework agreement «Magistri Comacini», and the scientific work of a group of archaeologists coordinated by Marina Uboldi and Chiara Niccoli.
The building has two floors. On the ground floor are the reception, the bookshop and the infopoint; on the first floor the finds are displayed, together with panels and multimedia aids reconstructing the phases of settlement on the island. There are architectural fragments, Roman and early Christian inscriptions, fresco fragments from religious buildings, ceramics, glass, coins and tools. The number of pieces varies by source: more than two hundred for Sacri Monti, about 250 for the Comune of Pavia.
The Hospitalis
The museum occupies the former little hospital of the complex called Hospitalis de Stabio, originally a place of welcome for the poor and for pilgrims on the Via Regina. The Comune’s site dates it to at least the 12th century, run by the Giovio family and recognised in 1496 by Pope Alexander VI; Camminacittà finds the first mention in a will of 1169. The spaces, writes ArteVarese, were partly abandoned and partly used for other purposes; until the 1980s a grape press stood there.
On the route
The museum belongs to the first stage of the Camminacittà route of Ossuccio and the Isola Comacina, together with the Hospitale, and Camminacittà warns of a small threshold and two automatic glass doors. The full walk is in the Ossuccio and Isola Comacina itinerary.
Practical information
- Hours: the Comune di Tremezzina site, read in October 2026, gives opening Thursday to Sunday, between 11 and 17, in the months from May to October. For other months we have found no hours.
- Ticket: the island’s entrance ticket, which can be bought here, includes admission to the museum; on the island there is an automatic ticket office that accepts cards only. Anyone on the island without a ticket risks fines. Fares are on the island’s website.
- Parking: Camminacittà mentions a paved, paid car park on the right side of the Statale Regina, for those coming from Como, just after the bell tower.
- For information: Comune di Tremezzina.
- Nearby: the church of Santa Maria Maddalena and the Isola Comacina.
Sources
- Isola Comacina, official site of the Comune di Tremezzina
- Lombardia Beni Culturali, Antiquarium Luigi Mario Belloni e Mariuccia Zecchinelli, Luoghi della Cultura
- Sacri Monti, Antiquarium Museum Collection and Isola Comacina
- ArteVarese, Ad Ossuccio apre l’Antiquarium (2013)
- Arci Ecoinformazioni, A Ossuccio un Antiquarium per un nuovo turismo (31 May 2013)
- Comune di Pavia, Mostra Longobardi: Isola Comacina - Antiquarium
- Camminacittà, Ossuccio path 1, stage 1
- OpenStreetMap, for the position.
