Laveno-Mombello

This picturesque town is situated about 20 km from Varese, along the banks of Lake Maggiore, where the Boesio stream enters the lake. The commune includes the 3 centers of Laveno, Mombello Lago Maggiore and Cerro Lago Maggiore which were united in one commune in 1927. It is renowned for its ceramics production. Laveno is today an important communications point by road and railway, connecting Lombardy to Switzerland, and also on the lake, thanks to its ferryboats linking the many villages around Lake Maggiore.

The area was inhabited by man since prehistory, as shown by archeological findings in the area of Mombello, where traces of palafict huts were found going back to 3,000 years BC. According to the tradition the name Laveno was given to the place by Roman general Titus Labienus, who had his camp on the site at the time of the battle against the Gauls on the nearby hill, the "mons belli" (=mountain of war).

Taking the cableway from Laveno, Funivia del Lago Maggiore, it is possible to reach the top of Poggio Sant'Elsa and admire the whole lake with the villages all around its banks, and the majestic Alpine summits in the background.

At Cerro, the Museo delle Terraglie at Cerro, with items recunstructing the arrival in Laveno of the Wedgewood ceramics style, widely used in the ordinary kitchenware in the 19th century.

The "Presepe Sommerso", a crib under water that has been placed in the Christmas season every year since 1979, on floating platform beautifully lit by night