A visit to Como is like looking through a manual on the history of architecture. Its ancient walls, the Duomo with its rich Gothic-Renaissance façade, the Broletto, the Castel Baradello, the Romanesque basilicas of Sant'Abbondio and S. Fedele, the myriad of monuments created by the Comacini Masters, and the modern architectural lines, all represent foundations of the urban and tourist fabric, interwoven with unforgettable splendor. View the neo-classic past of Villa Olmo and the Tempio Voltiano, or to head out in the lake aboard the Concordia, the historic paddle steamer furrowing the waters overlooked by the aristocratic villas including Villa d'Este, now transformed into a luxury hotel, and Villa Erba, now seat of an important exhibition and congress center, are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Then there are the museums and the silks, universally renowned for their delicacy and originality: the result of a creativity that is part of a century-old tradition of the people living by this lake, known all over the world by businessmen and those who seek peace in the limpid air transported by the winds of the Tivano and the Breva.