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Torno and the Mystery of the Pietra Pendula
Herman Hesse described this tiny hamlet as a “Love at first sight”, when first Torno saw it from the ferry boat.
If you want to experience the same emotions, all you have to do is take the road that goes from Como to Bellagio and get to Torno. The village had become famous for the creation of tapestries that were also exported to Germany. Despite its strategic position on a hill overlooking Moltrasio, in 1522 it was the target of attacks by the Spaniards and almost destroyed. From Torno you can climb Mount Piatto from whose peak you can enjoy a unique view. From here it is possible to admire not only suggestive views, but also the famous boulders and the Pendula Stone. The boulders are graves dug out of the enormous granite boulders of the Como area. The Pendula Stone is instead a granite block that rests on a base of limestone so as to simulate a large mushroom of 60 tons.
But you can’t leave without having seen the Villa Pliniana. It draws itself solitary in a wide curvature of Lake Como, in a dark green background. Torno advances on a promontory where another historic villa, Villa Pizzo, stands. Built in the 16th century by Senator Speziano from Cremona, it passed to the Counts Mugiasca, to the Duke Rainieri, to the King of Holland. It is now owned by the Volpi family.
