Lierna - "La Rocca"

Lierna is situated on the Eastern Coast of Lake Como between Mandello and Varenna and consists of the hamlets of Grumo, Casate, Mugiasco, Olcianico, Sornico, Castello, Giussana, Ciserino, Genico, Villa and Bancola.

It takes its name from the Roman "Hibernia", a winter district of Roman troops, although the most reasoned hypothesis is that of a Celtic origin.

Some archaeological finds, and in particular the mosaic floor transported to Palazzo Belgioioso in Lecco, at the Museum, however, confirm a Roman presence on which the Magazine of the Comense Archaeological Society was diffused in 1876. 

The first notarial document concerning Lierna is from 854. The town, fief of the Monastery of S. Dionigi of Milan from 1035 to 1202, was long disputed between Milan and Como, between the Torriani and the Visconti, offering itself even in 1375 in subjection to Varenna. In 1499 it passed under the dominion of Marchesino Stanga and in 1533 under that of the Sfondrati of Cremona, feudal lords of the Riviera until 1788.

In 1743 the administrative separation of the Municipality of Lierna from that of Mandello took place. In 1619 the church of S. Ambrogio became parish church and in 1626 it was rebuilt and enlarged. Antonio Anzani, rector, was the first pastor of Lierna.

The town was in perpetual dispute with Esino for rights over the woods and with Varenna for fishing rights and borders. The country provided vast emigration in the second half of the nineteenth century and in the first decades of the twentieth century, in particular towards Argentina and Uruguay, where many inhabitants of the city distinguished themselves in industrial, agricultural, artisan and artistic activities.

The Balbians and Pines made their fortune with liqueur producers in Argentina, Bartolomeo Panizza was a breeder in Uruguay, Davide Giosìa Barindelli started a large carpentry workshop in Buenos Aires. Giuseppe Lelio Balbiani founded numerous farms. Emilio Bonesatti was general director of revenues in Buenos Aires. Other Bonesatti instead distinguished themselves in music, both as scholars and as concert performers. 

Splendid villas embellish the town and almost at the end of the town in the direction of Varenna is the magnificent Villa Pini, in whose garden there is a very fresh source of ferruginous water. Olives (once also many vines) cover the slope on which the built-up area extends beyond the old state road that crosses it to the lake where, in Riva Bianca, an ancient castle shows its ruins.