The Hidden Underwater Life of Lake Como: Wrecks, Statues, Mysterious Stolen Cars, and War Tanks
Image by Antonio Bertelè
Let's face it, a depth like that of Lake Como can trigger only two types of reactions: terror or charm. We’re talking about a depth of 418 meters - that’s exactly the deepest spot between Argegno and Nesso.
If you are the kind of person who suffers from asphyxiation at the mere thought of a dark lakebed 200 meters below sea level, well, read no further.
In this article we’ve collected the suggestions of those who have explored the lake: expert divers who know the lake floor like the back of their hands, and would be able to tell you with their eyes closed where this or that wreck is.
Image by Samuele Marzolo
Yes, you got it right, even Lake Como hides fascinating and mysterious wrecks: steamships, tanks from the Second World War, hidden weapons, unexploded bombs, seaplanes, anchors with pieces of chain abandoned by unwary sailors, a huge car cemetery… and much more, that probably still lies hidden in the mud of the lake floor.
Source Amici del Mare - “Immersioni nel Lago di Como”
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Towards the lakebed: a silent castle of rocks and pinnacles
Image by Antonio Bertelè
According to the invaluable testimonies of professional sub-biologists (including Emilio Mancuso), on the bottom of Lake Como we find gravel, old shells of Dreissena Polymorpha (a particular zebra-striped mussel), large isolated limestone boulders that offer shelter to fish, sand, seaweed meadows, aquatic plants that are used by royal perches to lay their eggs (look at the gallery below, with photos from APS Como and Samuele Marzolo). And again: mussels, and a lot of alien shrimps (technically “allochthonous”, at least 6 species!).
Reading the testimonies of divers and geologists we discover that in certain points of the lakebed in the Bellagio area there are suggestive pinnacles with strange holes, walls of rock with deep cracks full of fishes, and then huge boulders (in many cases fragments of the rocky walls above the water) often wrapped from old fishing nets, big trees complete with branches and roots: there’s literally another world underwater!
Image by Samuele Marzolo
Fun fact: small cribs are often placed in the niches of the rocky walls, as well as various crosses and statues of Christ and Virgin Mary to protect those who dive, work and take care of the lake.
Image by Antonio Bertelè (location: Limonta)
In the Moregallo area (Lecco) we find a statue of a Christ holding a diver by the hands. In front of Villa Geno in Como, at around -20 meters, there’s even a mermaid!
But the most famous statue is certainly the “Christ of the Abyss”, a reproduction of the homonymous work that rests in the Ligurian waters of the Bay of San Fruttuoso between Camogli and Portofino.
A round up of haunting wrecks
For the most curious readers, we’ve collected a roundup of clues on where the most interesting wrecks of the lake are located (you can find an exhaustive collection, unfortunately in Italian only, here by Lorenzo Morandotti): there’s a real underwater museum!
The largest wreck is not exactly in Lake Como but in its immediate vicinity, in Lake Mezzola. A rusty sheet metal, completely enveloped in muddy water, is all that remains of Plinio steamship, which sank ten years ago at a depth of 70 meters. Born in 1902, Plinio was one of the most elegant and luxurious boats on Lake Como: it even hosted a ballroom on board!
In Piona, northern Lake Como, a comballo apparently sank in 1892, full of boulders for the station construction site.
In Menaggio in front of the harbour and in Ossuccio near Isola Comacina, there should be some gondolas, probably made sink because it was impossible to use them as firewood, given the waterproofing treatment. The same goes for Tremezzo, where in front of San Lorenzo church, at 22 meters deep, there’s an old gondola in perfect conditions (the chestnut wood used in these boats resists very well underwater!). The gondola dates back to the very first years of the XXth century, has it doesn’t have any engine. According to some theories, the gondola sank due to a violent thunder.
Other ancient comballi are in Carate Urio, Nobiallo, Dongo, Gravedona and Varenna.
In the waters of the stunning medieval hamlet of Rezzonico, San Siro, there’s a gondola that diver Daniele Bodoardo has amazingly reported in a HD video you can find on YouTube.
Near Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, at a depth of 40 meters, there’s a boat from the sixties of the last century: it’s 15 meters long!
Now let’s move on to the chapter of hidden weapons: it ’quite impossible to map them all with precision! The coast seems to be full of weapons, from Cernobbio to Dongo. In particualr, the presence of bombs and military vehicles of the Second World War is certain at Villa Geno and Villa Pizzo.
Bombs from Cernobbio waters, near Villa Pizzo. Image by Ansa, via RSI
Also near Galleria di Olcio, on the Lecco branch, there’s some material of the German army (mainly bayonets) passed on this road during the retreat in the Second World War towards the North.
On the ASD Amici del Mare website we read that a small field generator was found and recovered here: it was in poor condition but with a small metal box inside with gaskets, screws, and even some sheets with instructions for use!
The Paré area is very rich in bullets of various calibers and sizes, ammunition, bombs of all kinds, cannons still equipped with wheels, and tanks.
Apparently, in the waters of Cernobbio, between Villa Pizzo and Villa d’Este, there are plenty of unexploded plane bombs. Another aircraft bomb is reported in Blevio, between 150 meters and 200 meters deep.
Among the legends, there’s the one claiming that a factory of prototypes of aircraft lost some in Sala Comacina waters.
Another source refers to an 8-meter motorboat with Mussolini’s relatives on board which would have sunk in front of Torno during Duce's escape to Switzerland.
Finally, someone says that in the water near Lecco there’s a plane of the postal service, dating back to Second World War. Truth or legend? Who knows…
The car graveyard
A special mention deserves the famous "car cemetery" in Moregallo: here there’s a real underwater park! Not properly something to be proud of, honestly, but it’s something so unusual that ends up being fascinating.
Image by The amazing scuba world channel
Have a look at this video (or at this one as well) that perfectly shows what lies below the water in that area.
Those who went deep documented the presence of at least 50 cars: vehicles from different historical periods, many of which would have been thrown into the waters because they were stolen.
Image by The amazing scuba world channel
There’s an old Mini, a Renault 4, a Volkswagen Passat, an old Fiat 500, a Jaguar, some Piaggio Si mopeds, a Fantic Issimo, and even a Land Cruiser.
Image via Paolo Video Dive Logbook
But that's not all: between Onno and Limonta, in an area called “Acquamarcia” (literally rotten water), at about -50 meters there’s a Fiat Barchetta literally cut into pieces, together with various car plates. Also there, as reported by the subs, is a portable stereo system, a wall safe, pipes, irons, tiles, a moped, a radio, and a charming array of glass bottles of the galenic compounds that once the pharmacies used to pack in bottles.
In the waters of Dervio there seems to be an old Diane with a canvas roof and a sports steering wheel that miraculously stopped with the wheels resting on the lake floor.
Image via Antonio Bertelè
Finally, near Varenna, amidst weapons and war tanks, there’s a huge tanker from the 1980s, which Samuele Marzolo has immortalized in a series of shots that got viral on the web.
And then… a legend we particularly like
And then there are the legends, the fairytale ones that here at Lakeside we like.
The most fascinating is the one claiming that Lenno holds a little Atlantis underwater. It seems that in the center of Golfo di Venere there was a church that was submerged by a flood in 1400.
Golfo di Venere, Lenno - © Lakeside
The incredibly fun fact is that some explorers have actually found fragments of a tiled floor and some stone steps: all seems to belong to a church. What’s more, in 2006 a holy water stoup was also brought to the surface.
Some inhabitants of Lenno swear that on stormy days and every Holy Friday they cleary hear the bells of the disappeared church ringing. Geological studies have shown that, in the 12th century, the shores of the lake were really affected by the arrival of terrible tidal waves: waves that could have actually swallowed even the famous church.
Lake Como: and endless surprise, but… just for (very) expert divers!
What is certain is that looking at its surface it’s difficult to imagine the amount of mysteries that Lake Como hides under its heavy mantle of water.
Needless (almost ridiculous) to say: diving without being a very very very very experienced diver (a VERY expert one) would be a kamikaze challenge.
Diver Emanuele Loglisci. Check out his videos here!
The waters of Lake Como can be extremely insidious, so dark in their icy and murky silence. Far better to abandon yourself to your imagination lying on one of the wonderful beaches we have on our coasts!
© Lakeside
Article by Laura Zanotta
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