Tempio Voltiano

A Gift From An Industrialist

The Tempio Voltiano was commissioned, financed and donated to the city by the industrialist Francesco Somaini, according to the Comune di Como. The architect was Federico Frigerio, working in a neoclassical style that deliberately echoes the Pantheon in Rome. The building was constructed in 1927 for the centenary of Alessandro Volta's death, per italia.it, and the Comune records its inauguration on 16 July 1928.

Volta died on 5 March 1827. The centenary of that death produced two buildings in the Como area in the same year, this museum on the lakefront and the Faro Voltiano lighthouse on the hill above Brunate. Neither source page states where Volta is buried, so the temple should be treated as a museum, not a mausoleum, however much it looks like one from the promenade.

Today it is one of the four sites of the Musei Civici, the city's civic museums. That matters practically, because it shares its ticket price, its combined passes and its administration with the other civic sites.

The Building Itself

The exterior is white limestone. Inside there is a polychrome marble floor and a wide dome with a central light, which is what makes the circular hall feel bigger than it is. italia.it gives the hall a diameter of almost 12 metres.

The official pages describe one circular hall under the dome. Our estimate for a visit is 45 minutes to an hour, not a half day.

The Collection

The Comune describes the exhibits as instruments and apparatus from Volta's research in three fields. First, the electric pile, the battery Volta invented, which is the reason his name is on everything from voltage to the temple itself. Second, electrology, the study of electrical phenomena. Third, gases, which is where Volta's work began before electricity took over his career.

The Comune specifies originals and reconstructions. So some objects on display are the actual apparatus Volta used, and some are faithful copies made for the museum's opening. The official pages do not label which cases hold which, so ask at the desk if that distinction matters to you. Alongside the instruments, italia.it mentions documents relating to Volta's inventions.

There is no audio guide and no cafe listed on the official pages, and no photography rule is published. When an official page does not publish something, treat it as unknown rather than forbidden, and check with the staff at the desk.

Who This Suits

If you have any interest in the history of science, the subject is tightly drawn: one man, three research fields and the apparatus that led to the battery.

If your interest is paintings, the Pinacoteca civica is the other museum on the Como Art Pass. The Museo Archeologico Paolo Giovio halls are closed for maintenance. The Como Cathedral ticketed visit is the other half of the Art Pass equation. For a rainy afternoon in town, the museum plus the silk museum makes a sensible indoor pairing from our rainy day plan.

The opening window is generous, ten in the morning until six in the evening, six days a week. The detail that catches people out is twofold. Monday is a full closure all year, apart from two exceptions in 2026 that have now passed, and a short list of public holidays closes it too.

The last entry is 17:30, half an hour before the official closing time.

Payment is straightforward. You can pay at the desk by cash or card, or buy online in advance at museicomo.vivaticket.it. No booking is required for a standard visit, and no time slot is published, so the only timing rule is the 17:30 last entry.

The pass comes in two versions. The Comune's printed sheet lists the two-site pass at €10 and the three-site pass at €15. At the Vivaticket checkout the prices shown with fees are $12.69 (€11) for two sites and $18.46 (€16) for three. The checkout figures are what you will actually pay online, so those are the ones compared below.

Do the sums against single tickets at $6.92 (€6) each. The Tempio plus the cathedral ticket bought singly costs $13.84 (€12), so the two-site pass at $12.69 (€11) saves €1 online. All three sites bought singly cost $20.80 (€18), so the three-site pass at $18.46 (€16) saves €2. Those margins are thin.

The conclusion follows. The Art Pass only pays if you also go into the cathedral choir or the Pinacoteca. If the Tempio Voltiano is your only ticketed stop, buy the single $6.92 (€6) ticket and keep it simple. The two-site pass makes sense if the temple and the cathedral ticketed visit are both on your list anyway, since the saving is small but real and the 72-hour validity removes any time pressure.

Two side notes. The Museo Archeologico Paolo Giovio halls are closed for maintenance, which weakens the case for the pass if archaeology was your draw. The CoMmUnity card is a one-year card for Como and province residents only, so it does not apply to visitors.

Most people meet this building as a white shape between the lake and the road, take a photo and walk on. These five points from the official sources change what the building is once you know them.

• It was paid for by one private citizen. The industrialist Francesco Somaini commissioned it, financed it and donated it to the city, which is why Como has a Pantheon-shaped science museum on its shore at all. (Comune di Como)
• It was built in 1927 for the centenary of Volta's death, and inaugurated on 16 July 1928, so the building and its opening are two separate anniversaries a year apart. (italia.it and Comune di Como)
• The hall inside is almost 12 metres across and lit through a central opening in the dome, so on a grey day go in the middle of the day for the best light on the cases. (italia.it)
• It has a twin. The Faro Voltiano lighthouse above Brunate, reached by the funicular, was built in 1927 for the same centenary, so the lake and the hill each got a Volta monument in the same year. It has been closed since 2024, so it is seen from outside. (Comune di Brunate)
• The floor is polychrome marble, set under a dome that deliberately echoes the Pantheon in Rome, a choice made by the architect Federico Frigerio. (Comune di Como)

On Foot

From the Lungolario Trento bus stops it is 450 metres, about six minutes. From Como Lago station, the terminus of the Milan line, it is 900 metres, about twelve minutes. From Como San Giovanni station, the mainline station, it is 800 metres, also about twelve minutes.

All three figures come from the Comune's own page, so they are the ones to plan around rather than a map app's guess.

Access And Parking

Inside, there is a lift for visitors with reduced mobility and for wheelchairs, which the Comune names for visitors in wheelchairs. If you need to confirm anything before setting out, the phone is 335 8489213 and the email is musei.civici@comune.como.it.

For drivers, the Comune lists paid parking on Viale Vittorio Veneto. Our Como parking page covers the wider picture if that is full. If you arrive by train from Milan, the arrival options are laid out on our Milan to Como page, and once in town the getting around guide covers buses and boats. Coming from the pier at Piazza Cavour after a lake ferry, follow the lakefront promenade west. No walking time from the pier is published.

Because the visit takes an estimated 45 minutes to an hour, the temple works best as the western anchor of a lakefront morning. Our routing: walk from Como Lago station or Como San Giovanni station, see the temple first while you are fresh, then work east along the shore past the Monumento ai Caduti and the lakefront promenade to Piazza Cavour and the old town.

In the afternoon, add the cathedral ticketed visit if you took the two-site Art Pass, or ride the Brunate funicular for the other half of the Volta story, the Faro Voltiano built in 1927 for the same centenary. It has been closed since 2024, so it is seen from outside. Our one day in Como plan and the walking routes page both build around this same geography. If rain closes the lake, the temple is one of the indoor options in the rainy day plan, and lunch options are covered in where to eat.