Lake Como conveys notions of easy elegance and the Italian art of slow living, and has come to stand for something bigger than it is. Officially called Lario, Italy’s third-biggest lake has been drawing visitors since the 18th century, when it was a popular stop for European nobles on their grand tours.

More recently, it stepped into the spotlight as the backdrop for films including Ocean’s Twelve and Casino Royale. But the lake’s prestige dates to Roman times, when Julius Ceasar drained a swamp at its southwestern end, strategically located near Alpine passes, and funded the creation of a city known as Novum Comum.