If you brave Como's industrial quarter, you will find the beautiful church of Sant'Abbondio, a gem of Romanesque architecture begun by Benedictine monks in 1013 and consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095. Inside, the five aisles of the church 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. In the nave the cubical capitals are the earliest example of this style in Italy.
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