Lake Como is a beautiful stretch of water thirty miles long, lying in northern Italy. It is surrounded by mountains, some of whose peaks reach a height of 8,500 feet. It is fed by the Adda (d´å) River which rises a few miles above in the glaciers of the Alps. It is drained also by the Adda, which flows into the Po. From a geographer's standpoint Lake Como is only a sunken valley in the Alps, now forming an enlargement in the Adda River. But to lovers of beauty Lake Como is much more. Its beauties have been sung by poets since the time of Virgil, and thousands of people visit it every year. Its beauty is due as much to the mountains that surround it as to the lake itself. In the lower reaches of the lake the elevation of the shore is gentle, and the hillsides are covered with olive, orange and lemon groves. The upper stretches are green with native forest trees. The climate of the place is even. It rarely gets as cold as 20° in winter, and never warmer than 90° in summer. It is largely due to its climate that so many winter and summer homes have been built on the hills overlooking the lake. Its groves of fruit trees and mulberry trees thrive here as well as they do many hundreds of miles south. The mulberry trees suggest to you one of the leading industries of the people. Much silk is made in the numerous villages that dot the shores of the lake. The lake itself is deep-in some places almost 2000 feet. It contains many varieties of fish, some of them of great size. The inhabitants of the villages depend upon their fishermen for much of their meat supply. Which way is Lake Como from Switzerland? Keystone ID: 7282 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.