Comano Ti: Art, History and ViaGottardo

Comano Ti is a municipality in the Lugano district of the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland. The town’s cultural highlights include religious art, works by artist Nag Arnoldi, a walking tour of Comano and the ViaGottardo. Each place and attraction offers a different perspective, from frescoes and stucco to bronze works and a cultural trail with a described section leading to the town centre.

Churches and works of art

The Oratorio di San Bernardo is a hermitage and small church. It contains 16th-century frescoes by Giovanni Battista Tarilli. The Via Crucis offers a different focus: it comprises 14 stations designed by architect Giampiero Camponovo. The stations feature bronze reliefs created by Nag Arnoldi. Thus, frescoes in a church interior and a series of stations with bronze reliefs represent different forms of religious art.

The Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria is a historic monument first documented in 1359; the church contains stucco work by Giovan Antonio Marchi. It is important to distinguish the dates: 1359 marks the first documentation of Santa Maria, while the 16th century refers to the frescoes in the Oratorio di San Bernardo. The two dates therefore refer to different historical contexts.

Outside the Oratorio di San Rocco stands a bronze statue of Saint Roch. Together with the reliefs of the Via Crucis and the bronze works in the park of Centro Prospò, it broadens the picture of artworks made from this material that are found in different places in Comano.

Nag Arnoldi and Comano’s townscape

Centro Prospò is a public multi-purpose complex completed in 1993. Its park contains numerous bronze statues by Nag Arnoldi, an artist from Comano. The park and its artworks offer another way to discover his work, distinct from the religious art in the churches and along the Via Crucis.

Nag Arnoldi lived in Comano for a long time and established his studio there. The studio is still visible today. If you are planning a visit, check access in advance. This distinguishes the visible studio from the statues in the park without assuming that the same visiting conditions apply to both places.

“Comano si racconta” presents 34 photographs at various streets, squares and lanes around the town. Another way to explore is the “Sulle orme di Nag Arnoldi” walking tour: it takes you on foot through Comano and is complemented by a multimedia guide with audio and video content. The photographs in the town and the walking tour differ in format: one uses images in several locations, while the other combines a walking route with media content.

ViaGottardo and getting your bearings

The ViaGottardo is a cultural trail linking the north and south of the Alps. The section in Comano continues along a forest path that descends about 200 metres to the town centre. This describes the section of the route leading to the centre; check trail conditions before setting out.

At the end of the ViaGottardo stage in Comano, continuing to Lugano by public transport is recommended, as the trail is no longer signposted there. Keep these directions distinct when planning: the forest path leads to the town centre, while the public-transport recommendation concerns onward travel to Lugano at the end of the stage.

From the Punto panoramico viewpoint on San Bernardo hill, you can see the Gulf of Lugano. The viewpoint adds a specific landscape vista to the area’s cultural highlights. In 1997, 54.4 per cent of Comano’s land area was reported as forest and 34.5 per cent as agricultural land; these land-use figures refer to that year.

Putting historical dates in context

Comano was first mentioned in 1159 under the name “Cumano”. This reference to the town predates the first documentation of the Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria in 1359. Other dates relate to different contexts: the 16th century dates the frescoes in the Oratorio di San Bernardo, and Centro Prospò was completed in 1993. Together, these dates provide a brief guide to the town’s first mention, religious artworks and a later public multi-purpose complex, without treating them as a single construction or creation date.

Discover more destinations: Vico Morcote, Sonvico, Neggio, Melano, Barbengo, Sigirino, Magliaso, Bedano

For the broader travel overview: Lugano.