Como is the lakeside village on the southern end of namesake Lake Como, around an hour’s train ride from Milan. Far from the buzz of the city, Como is where you can take in the immersive beauty of the Alps, with elegant 19th-century villas and majestic church buildings like the Gothic Como Cathedral in the foreground.
The lakeside promenade can be one of the most scenic walks you’ll ever have in Italy, and there’s the Como-Brunate funicular railway that’ll take the experience a notch higher.
If spirituality entices you along with meditative chants and riveting discussions with monks and nuns fascinate you, monasteries are your peaceful retreats. Housing monks and nuns, monasteries are a place to live in seclusion where the inhabitants explore faith. An array of religions has monasteries, including Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, where the people who chose this path believe in living humbly. The Greek root meaning of the term “monastery” itself signifies living alone. Not everyone can adopt such a lifestyle, albeit experiencing it for a while can bestow peace to the soul. This is a guide to remote monasteries on earth.