Liceo Classico Alessandro Volta

The "Liceo Classico e Scientifico Alessandro Volta" is a classical and scientific secondary education institution in Como, Italy, located in a neoclassical building designed in 1804 by Simone Cantoni in via Cesare Cantù 57. In ancient times the building was a monastery of Augustinian nuns, built around the 1250s. It had its maximum expansion in 1270, when it was financed by the Lucini family of Como and by the bishop Leone Lambertenghi. It then remained substantially unaltered, undergoing some modifications only around the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1573 the present church was built, dedicated to St. Cecilia: it was characterized by a double hall, one for the faithful and one for the cloistered nuns. In 1561 the Society of Jesus directed a school in the center of the city. With the abolition of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the school was made into the "Royal Gymnasium" of Como, a prestigious educational institution. From 1774 to 1778 the gymnasium was led by Alessandro Volta, director and professor of physics. When the Lombardy region was taken back by Austria, the gymnasium (1818) and the high school (1824-1825) were reformed. The studies lasted a total of eight years: the teaching of Greek lasted three or four years during the Gymnasium, whereas the high school portion was optional. In 1851, the gymnasium and high school sections were merged into a single high school-gymnasium ("Liceo Ginnasio"= Lyceum Gymnasium) led by a single director; in 1865 the institution was named after its old director Alessandro Volta.