In the quaternary age, the whole basin was covered by a large glacier which exceeded the Lecco and Como branches, till the present moraine hills. The lake was formed in the cavity excavated by the glacier, where the slow transition is evidenced by the rocks that still bear signs of erosion and numerous boulders, mostly found on the heights of the Larian Triangle.

Inhabited since prehistoric times, Lake Como has always had a great importance as a communication link between the northern regions and the Po Valley. After the Gauls, the Romans settled there and made it a strategic point paving on the western shore, the road that connected the "Larius" with Rezia.

Later, with the Lombard domination, this street that still bears the name "Queen" was refitted and reopened by Queen Teodolinda, who took her seat in the famous Castle of Vezio, which majestlicly overlooks the lake from Vezio, a medioeval town on the top of the hill above Varenna. Entering inside the walls surrounding the tower, you'll see the remains of this military outpost, used since the time of Queen Teodolinda as a watchtower. The strategic importance of the lake, which was used to reach the pass and Spluga, the area was subjected for centuries to invasions and dominations.

After the Franks, around the year 1000, the city of Como, which had always struggled for its autonomy, became an autonomous municipality. Then under the lordship of the Visconti and Sforza, they thought about extending the bed of the Adda in order to have a connection by water to the Duchy of Milan.

Then followed much foreign rule: first the Spanish, then the Austrians and for a short period, even the French. In the last century Lake Como became famous thanks to the novel "The Betrothed" by Alessandro Manzoni, set on the Lecco branch.