Sant'Abbondio

Sant'Abbondio Review

If you brave Como's industrial quarter, you will come upon this beautiful church, a gem of Romanesque architecture begun by Benedictine monks in 1013 and consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095. Inside, the five aisles converge on a presbytery with a semicircular apse decorated with a cycle of 14th-century frescoes—now restored to their original magnificence—by Lombard artists heavily influenced by the Sienese school. To see them, turn right as you enter and put €0.50 in the mechanical box for a few minutes of lighting. In the nave, the cubical capitals are the earliest example of this style in Italy.