Alessandro Volta’s house is a palace at via Volta 62, in the old town of Como: the physicist was born there on 18 February 1745 and passed away there on 5 March 1827. It belongs to private owners, houses the Order of Engineers, some offices and flats, and is looked at mostly from the street.
History
The Voltas had lived here since the sixteenth century: in 1536 an ancestor, Zanino, left Loveno di Menaggio for Como (Camminacittà), and from then on the palace grew by joining neighbouring houses. Alessandro, sixth child of Filippo, a Como patrician, and Maddalena Inzaghi, was born here. In 1803 he found the dwelling too small: he would have liked Palazzo Rezzonico, now the Museo Garibaldi, but settled for an enlargement, buying an adjoining building from the Raimondi.
The palace now has a nineteenth-century look. In 1862 it passed to Carlo Pizzala, who had it thoroughly restored and gave it the present late neoclassical forms; UPEL notes that little of the original appearance remains. Since 1971 a part has housed the Order of Engineers of the province of Como (Oggi a Como).
What to see
From the street you look at the palace facade. To the right of the main door, near number 62, a marble plaque reads: «Fu questa l’avita casa di Alessandro Volta» (this was the ancestral home of Alessandro Volta), signed by the Municipality. Camminacittà also mentions a hanging garden on the embankment along the walls, which cannot be seen from the street.
One block away is the church of San Donnino, where Volta was baptised the day after his birth and where his funeral was held.
Practical information
- Address: via Alessandro Volta 62, in the walled city, a limited-traffic zone. The nearest parking Camminacittà gives is in viale Varese; the Arena car park is at via Bellini 21.
- It is private property and is normally not visited. To see the part occupied by the Order of Engineers, Camminacittà suggests phoning its secretariat (+39 031 269810, Monday to Friday 9 am to 12). In May 2022 a tour operator, Villago, offered a guided visit with entry to an apartment on the main floor: it was a single event, now past.
- On 5 March 2027 it will be 200 years since Volta’s death; the local celebrations began on 5 March 2026 (CiaoComo).
- The house is the first stop of the itinerary Volta’s Como.
