Lake Como is the third largest of the four lakes in the north of Italy and the only one to lie completely within Lombardy. It is Europe’s deepest lake, 28 miles long and no more than three miles at its widest, all in the shape of an inverted Y.

The main town of Como, the silk making capital of Europe, is on the southwestern shore and popular areas for international buyers tend to be the sunny west and south of the lake, the closest to Milan, with the small towns of Menaggio, Bellagio and Laglio all being popular.

Elegant residences on the shores of the lake were built from the 18th Century onwards by the silk magnates of the area as holiday homes. Today these Lake Como properties epitomize luxury and a host of celebrity homeowners, most famously George Clooney, testify to their timeless appeal.