Lecco

Lecco
Comune
Comune di Lecco
View of Lecco from Piani d'Erna, under mount Resegone.
Location of Lecco
Lecco Location of Lecco in Italy Lecco Lecco (Lombardy)
Coordinates: 45°51′N 09°24′E
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Lecco (LC)
Frazioni	Acquate, Belledo, Bonacina, Castello, Chiuso, Germanedo, Laorca, Lecco, Maggianico, Malavedo, Olate, Pescarenico, Rancio, San Giovanni, Santo Stefano
Government
• Mayor	Antonella Faggi (since 2006-05-30)
Area
• Total	45.93 km2 (17.73 sq mi)
Elevation	214 m (702 ft)
Population  (December 31, 2006)
• Total	47,006
• Density	1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
Demonym	Lecchesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	23900
Dialing code	0341
Patron saint	San Nicolò
Saint day	December 6
Website	www.comune.lecco.it

Lecco is an Italian city of c. 47,000 inhabitants set in Lombardy, 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Milan, and is the capital of the province of Lecco. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch named Lake of Lecco). The Prealps rise to the north and east, cut through by the Valsassina of which Lecco marks the southern end.

The lake narrows to form the river Adda, so bridges were built to improve road communications with Como and Milan. There are three bridges crossing the river Adda in Lecco: the Azzone Visconti Bridge (1336-1338), the Kennedy Bridge (1956) and the Alessandro Manzoni Bridge (1985).

Its economy used to be based on industry (iron manufacturers), but now it is mainly tertiary.

History

Archaeological finds demonstrate the presence of Celtic settlement in the area before the arrival of the Romans. The latter built a castrum here and made it an important road hub. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Lombards captured the town in the 6th century; they were followed by the Franks, who made Lecco the seat of a countship and, later, of a frontier Mark.

Emperor Otto I spent a long time in Lecco, quenching the 964 revolt against the Holy Roman Empire led by Lecco’s count Attone. Later it became a possession of the Milanese monastery of St. Ambrose. Conrad II also stayed in Lecco, in the attempt to free it from the church, but as the result of the ensuing wars the city was subjected by Milan. It subsequently followed the history of the Duchy of Milan and of Lombardy. In the early 16th century it was briefly ruled by the condottiere Gian Giacomo Medici.

During World War II it was an important centre of the partisan war against the German occupation.

Sport

The town’s football team Calcio Lecco 1912 currently play in Serie C1. Their traditional rivalry with the Como team is marked by the so-called Derby del Lario which last took place in the 2001 season when both teams were competing in Serie C1.

Notable Lecchesi

• Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), poet and novelist, author if I promessi sposi, belonged to an old family of Lecco.
• Antonio Stoppani (1824–1891), geologist and palaeontologist.
• Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824–1893), journalist, poet, and novelist; he wrote many librettos for Verdi, including La forza del destino and Aida.
• Carlo Mauri (1930–1982), climber and explorer.
• Roberto Formigoni (born 1947), a Catholic conservative politician; President of Lombardy since 1995.
• Antonio Rossi (born 1968) a canoeist and five-time Olympic medalist in kayak flatwater canoeing.

Cultural references

Alessandro Manzoni set the events in the first half of The Betrothed in Lecco, a town he knew deeply since he had spent part of his childhood there.

We voyaged by steamer down the Lago di Lecco, through wild mountain scenery, and by hamlets and villas, and disembarked at the town of Lecco. They said it was two hours, by carriage to the ancient city of Bergamo, and that we would arrive there in good season for the railway train. We got an open barouche and a wild, boisterous driver, and set out. It was delightful. We had a fast team and a perfectly smooth road. There were towering cliffs on our left, and the pretty Lago di Lecco on our right, and every now and then it rained on us

Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, chapter 21.

• 
  Lecco and Monte San Martino.
• 
  View of Lecco.
• 
  Piazza XX Settembre, in the centre of the town, and the San Martino mountain.

View of Lecco and the Lecco branch of Lake Como, from the Piansciresa plain of Monte Barro.

External links

Media related to Lecco at Wikimedia Commons

• The official website of the city council Template:It icon
• Visitor attractions in Lecco Template:It, from the site of the Lecco APT, an official body for the promotion of tourism.