Volta in Como, autumn 2026: the 200VOLTeVOLTA calendar, seen from Brunate

2027 marks two hundred years since the death of Alessandro Volta, and Como has already started celebrating. The programme is called 200VOLTeVOLTA and is promoted by the Fondazione Alessandro Volta: a calendar of talks, concerts, exhibitions and installations that runs from September to December 2026 across the Tempio Voltiano, Villa del Grumello, the Teatro Sociale, the Chamber of Commerce and Piazza Verdi.

Below are the appointments with a confirmed date, taken from the Foundation’s official calendar. Next to each one we have added a line of our own: nearly all of these events are down in the city, and the city makes more sense once you have climbed up to look at it from above. You take the funicular, you reach Brunate, you look out from the terrace of the Volta Lighthouse — about 200 metres from our tables — and you eat with us, with the lake below.

The 200VOLTeVOLTA calendar, autumn 2026

Source: the official 200VOLTeVOLTA calendar and the Festival della Luce Lake Como 2026 programme. Checked on 9 September 2026: only appointments with a published date are listed.

Ongoing

September 2026

October 2026

November 2026

December 2026

The dates are those published by the Fondazione Alessandro Volta. For detailed times, bookings and changes, the official calendar is always the reference.

How you get up there

The Como–Brunate funicular opened on 11 November 1894: it climbs 493.92 metres in a ride of about seven minutes, and in those seven minutes the city opens up beneath you. From the upper station to the Volta Lighthouse it is 1.8 kilometres of road and path, with 200 metres of ascent.

The Lighthouse is the octagonal, 29-metre tower on top of Monte Tre Croci, at about 900 metres above sea level. It was inaugurated on 8 September 1927, the centenary of Alessandro Volta’s death, to a design by the engineer Gabriele Giussani. Its tricolour beam — green, white, red — carries up to 40 kilometres.

The outdoor terrace around the Lighthouse is freely and openly accessible and gives a 360-degree panorama: the first basin of Lake Como, the city, the Lombard plain and, on clear days, the ring of the Alps. It is the vantage point from which this whole story is seen from above.

The Volta places, and where they are

The Tempio Voltiano — the white rotunda on the lakefront, designed by the architect Federico Frigerio — houses Volta’s instruments and hosts a good part of the calendar. On the Diga Foranea stands The Life Electric, Daniel Libeskind‘s sculpture dedicated to Volta. And up above everything, the Volta Lighthouse.

Alessandro Volta was born in Como on 18 February 1745 and died on 5 March 1827. In his letter to Father Barletti of 18 April 1777 he wrote down the intuition that would lead to the telegraph: an idea that starts from this lake.

With us, about 200 metres from the Lighthouse

MamaGina Brunate is at Via Giacomo Scalini 70, in Brunate, about 200 metres from the terrace of the Volta Lighthouse. The dining room looks out over the first basin of Lake Como: the same view Volta had below his house, seen from 900 metres higher up.

On the days of the Volta calendar it is worth letting us know: +39 031 364099.

The day ends down below

The right way to close one of these days is to go back down. The funicular descends, and Como in the evening is another city: the streets of the old centre inside the Roman walls, Piazza Duomo with the cathedral lit up, the Broletto, the Teatro Sociale, then the lakefront as far as Piazza Cavour, with still water and lights from the far shore. From there, a few steps away, the Tempio Voltiano and the Diga Foranea with The Life Electric.

It is a half-hour walk, taken slowly, with the Lighthouse still turning its tricolour beam overhead. You go up to look, you eat in Brunate, you come down to walk.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 200VOLTeVOLTA programme?

It is the programme of the Volta celebrations. Italy’s National Committee for the Volta Celebrations was established by Law 207 of 30 December 2024 and is chaired by Massimo Inguscio; the programme was presented at a press conference on 10 March at the Liceo Volta in Como.

Why is 2027 Volta’s year in Como and Brunate?

5 March 2027 marks two hundred years since Alessandro Volta died: he was born on 18 February 1745 and died on 5 March 1827. The same year the Volta Lighthouse in Brunate turns one hundred, having been inaugurated on 8 September 1927.

What can I already see in autumn 2026?

The dated events of the 200VOLTeVOLTA calendar listed on this page, in and around Como — among them the Alessandro Volta Prize and the «Musica ed energia nel segno di Volta» evenings.

How do I reach the Volta Lighthouse from Como, and where can I eat?

Take the Como-Brunate funicular, opened on 11 November 1894: the ride takes seven minutes. From the upper station to the lighthouse it is 1.8 kilometres with 200 metres of elevation gain. Our two restaurants are about two hundred metres from the lighthouse, whose outdoor panoramic terrace is free and open to all.