Argegno

In the water in front of the village, a little to the south, lies the deepest point of Lake Como — four hundred and eighteen metres — which is also the greatest depth of the Italian lakes. And from the shore a cable car climbs in about five minutes to Pigra, eight hundred and fifty metres up: it is the steepest in Italy, with a maximum gradient of ninety-five per cent. Between these two extremes the village occupies an alluvial fan built by the last stretch of the river Telo where it enters the lake, and it began as a fishing hamlet before spreading along the roads that climb towards the Valle Intelvi. The name is said to come from a Celtic word meaning «arable river mouth», which describes the ground exactly; or else from a Roman called Publio Cesio Archigene, recalled in two inscriptions found nearby, who had been charged with raising altars to the gods.

The via Regina passed this way, the Roman road that linked Cremona to Chiavenna by way of Milan, and the statutes of Como of 1335 list «Arzegnio» among the comuni responsible for the upkeep of a stretch of that road; along the old course there is still a Romanesque bridge with a pointed arch, and hanging over the torrent an old smithy with a trip hammer of 1772. In the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines Argegno was a Guelf stronghold: from 1270 it housed a castle that formed part of a defensive line linked with those of Sala Comacina, Lezzeno and Nesso. A second castle stood in the middle of the village, the tower of the noble Viscardi, which partly collapsed in 1876: what was left of the lower part was turned into a dwelling, and it is still there. In 1807 a Napoleonic decree enlarged the comune to take in Dizzasco, Pigra and Schignano, but the aggregation was annulled when Napoleon fell. And in the risings of 1848 the church of San Sisinnio housed the provisional insurrection committee of the Valle Intelvi.