Monumento ai Caduti Como

The Monumento ai Caduti is Como's memorial to the dead of the First World War. It stands on the lakefront at Viale Giancarlo Puecher, near the gardens of the Tempio Voltiano. The Comune di Como says it was built in the early 1930s, after a series of earlier projects were judged unsuitable.

The outside is concrete clad in stone from the Karst. That stone is a deliberate choice: the Karst was the First World War front where many men from Como fought and died. italia.it gives the height as about 30 metres and notes the large windows that open the tower up as it rises.

The most sobering detail is on the walls. The names of 650 fallen from Como are engraved on the monument. It is a war memorial first and a viewpoint second, and the climb should be read that way. The tower was inaugurated in 1933, barely fifteen years after the war ended.

Today the Comune di Como runs it, and it sits on the residents' CoMmUnity card with the Tempio Voltiano, the Pinacoteca and the cathedral. You can pair the tower and the temple in one lakeside outing, as our things to do page suggests.

Ask who made the monument and you will not get one name, and you should not accept one. The authorship is layered, and the Comune di Como states it in a precise sequence that is worth repeating exactly.

First, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti suggested basing the celebratory tower on a drawing by Antonio Sant'Elia. italia.it identifies the source as a 1914 sketch of a power station. Sant'Elia himself died in the First World War, so the memorial drew on the work of a man the war killed.

The project then involved Enrico Prampolini. After him came Attilio Terragni. And finally, with construction already well advanced, Giuseppe Terragni also joined. On this monument Giuseppe Terragni was the last to arrive, not the originator.

One caution for careful readers. The two official sources tell the story with different emphasis. The Comune gives the full chain from Marinetti through Prampolini and the two Terragnis, while italia.it assigns the project to Attilio and Giuseppe Terragni and attributes the underlying idea to Marinetti and Sant'Elia. Both accounts are official, they simply stress different layers. This page follows the Comune's fuller wording.

If the layered authorship interests you, Giuseppe Terragni's Casa del Fascio in the old town can be seen inside only on a guided visit, as covered on our Casa del Fascio page. For the wider architectural setting of the city, see what to see in Como.

The top is reached on foot, by a staircase the Comune describes as steep and narrow. There is no lift mentioned on the official page.

The Comune is unusually direct about who should not attempt it. It is not advised for people with mobility problems, heart conditions, asthma, vertigo or claustrophobia. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Take that list seriously: it is the Comune's own warning, not boilerplate.

What the top looks like, how many steps there are and how long the visit takes are not stated on the official page. Our estimate is 30 to 45 minutes for the whole visit including the climb. A step count and a lift are simply not published, so if you need certainty on either, ask at the desk at the Info Point Broletto.

The upshot is simple. If the climb is not for you, the monument still works as a sight from the ground. The stone, the engraved names and the architecture are all visible from the lakefront promenade, and entry to the outside costs nothing. Our Como walks page puts the tower on a lakefront route.

This is the single fact most visitors get wrong. The monument is not an all-year sight. The top opens only from 2 June to 4 November 2026, and then only on four days a week. Outside those dates the tower is closed to climbing, although the outside is always visible.

Within the season there are two slot patterns. Wednesday and Friday open mornings only. Saturday and Sunday open afternoons only. Two special openings add afternoon access on 2 June and 4 November themselves. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are closed throughout.

Access is also suspended during Calcio Como 1907 home games and in severe weather. A Wednesday morning in the season does you no good if Como play at home that day. Check the club's fixtures, and our Como 1907 tickets page, before you plan the climb.

The full grid from the Comune follows.

Two planning consequences follow. First, mornings in the season mean midweek only, so weekend visitors get afternoons or nothing. Second, because the season ends on 4 November, a late autumn trip to Como should not be built around the climb.

If the tower matters to you, come between June and early November, and confirm the day against the table above and the football calendar.

The standard ticket costs $6.92 (€6). That much is settled. Tickets are sold online at museicomo.vivaticket.it, and the monument is part of the residents' CoMmUnity card. It is not part of the Como Art Pass, so do not expect a tourist pass to cover it.

Here is where it gets awkward. The Comune's own monument page lists two reduced rates: $4.61 (€4) for over 65s, Como residents and university students, and $3.46 (€3) for ages 6 to 18. But the Comune's own pass price sheet says those two reductions do not apply to the monument. Two documents from the same authority disagree.

What does that mean for you in practice? Go expecting to pay $6.92 (€6), and ask the Info Point Broletto before you buy a reduced ticket. The comparison with the tours is in the table at the top of this page, and every other Como ticket is on the tickets page.

The Comune's pass sheet applies the civic museums' free categories here too, including children under 6. No combined ticket with the Tempio Voltiano is mentioned. If you want a cheap day out around the tower, the lakefront itself costs nothing, and our free things to do in Como list starts from the same shore.

• The design starts from a drawing by an architect who died in the war it commemorates. Marinetti proposed basing the tower on a 1914 sketch of a power station by Antonio Sant'Elia, who was killed in the First World War. (italia.it)
• The stone on the outside comes from the Karst, the very front where many men from Como fought and died. The material is part of the memorial, not just the cladding. (italia.it)
• Giuseppe Terragni, Como's most celebrated architect, joined the project only when construction was already well advanced, after Prampolini and Attilio Terragni. The city's famous name was the last author in the chain. (Comune di Como)
• Access to the top is suspended during Como 1907 home games, so a football fixture can close a war memorial. (Comune di Como)
• Two Comune documents disagree on whether the $4.61 (€4) and $3.46 (€3) reduced rates apply to this monument, so the price you actually pay at the desk is a question worth asking. (Comune di Como)

The monument stands on Viale Giancarlo Puecher, on the lakefront west of the old town, near the Tempio Voltiano. The Comune publishes no walking time or distance for the monument itself. It does publish figures for the Tempio Voltiano on the same stretch of shore: 900 m (12 minutes) from Como Lago station, 800 m (12 minutes) from Como San Giovanni and 450 m (6 minutes) from the Lungolario Trento bus stops. Use those as a guide, and look at the map on this page for the last stretch.

From the old town, walk down to the water and follow the lakefront promenade west past the Tempio Voltiano. From Milan, trains from Cadorna end at Como Lago on the lakefront and trains from Centrale stop at Como San Giovanni uphill, and the Milan to Como page compares them. Boats from other lake towns land at Piazza Cavour, covered on the Como ferry page.

Driving And Buses

The old town is a limited traffic zone, and the Comune points Tempio Voltiano visitors to paid parking on Viale Vittorio Veneto. Read Como parking before you drive in, and getting around Como for the city buses.

The monument works best as one stop on a lakeside day rather than a destination on its own. Our estimate for the visit is 30 to 45 minutes including the climb, so it slots between bigger commitments rather than replacing them.

A workable shape for a day in season: start in the old town at the cathedral, walk to the lake, climb the tower in a Wednesday or Friday morning slot, then continue to the Tempio Voltiano next door, which opens from 10:00 and covers the days the tower is shut. Add the Brunate funicular in the afternoon if you want a second view, this time of the whole basin.

If you only have one day in the city, our Como in 1 day route and the suggested city walks both pass the tower on the water. For rainy days, remember the staircase is suspended in severe weather, so keep a backup plan ready. Where to eat and sleep around the centre is covered in where to eat and where to stay.