Until 1926 the town was simply Appiano: Gentile was added to tell it apart from the South Tyrolean Appiano, and refers to the gentile, that is pagan, finds made here. The etymology is disputed: the Latin Ad-Planum, "near the plain", is held to be a false lead, while newer proposals trace the name to Gaulish, meaning "water plain" or "land of horses", or of horse breeders, depending on the linguist.
The ground has yielded a Bronze Age necropolis of the Canegrate culture and, at La Mortizia, a Golasecca one read as the passage from the Celtic world to the Roman; the finds are in the Paolo Giovio museum in Como. Demolition work on an apse of the collegiate church of Santo Stefano brought out a marble altar inscribed Aphrodite, a sign of trade with peoples of Greek culture. In 1863 heavy emigration to South America began. The town sits on the edge of the pine wood that straddles the provinces of Como and Varese; at La Pinetina, towards the Veniano border, Inter Milan train.
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📅 Every year, on 26 December; the Fiera gròssa on the first Tuesday of August and December
Appiano Gentile celebrates Saint Stephen on 26 December, in the church dedicated to him. Twice a year, on the first Tuesday of August and the first Tuesday of December, the traditional Fiera gròssa is held.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Appiano Gentile, but an easy day trip away.
