The current Piazza San Fedele is believed to be the site of the forum of Roman Como. The marble head of Augustus (portrayed as pontifex maximus, therefore sculpted after 12 BC – before 14 AD) was found here in the 16th century. It was part of Paolo Giovio’s collections and is now on display at the Archaeological Museum. The basilica of the same name was built in the 11th century on the ruins of the Basilica of Saint Euphemia (5th century), believed to be Como’s first cathedral. It was surrounded by the church of San Pietro in Atrio (now an exhibition space in Via Odescalchi, at the time part of the square) and the baptistery of San Giovanni in Atrio, the remains of which can be seen in a bookshop and a bar opposite the basilica. The baptistery was adorned with eight Roman-era columns in cipollino marble, now located in Via Cantù, supporting the façade of the Alessandro Volta classical and scientific high school. Of the ancient cathedral, the basilica preserves two allegorical sculptures surmounted by holy water fonts. Beneath the main altar lie the relics of Fedele, who, according to tradition, escaped capture by the martyrs of the legendary Theban Legion in Como and was killed in Samolaco (SO), where Lake Como ended at the time and where his tomb was found in 964. A week after his death, Alessandro Volta was honored by the city in the Basilica of San Fedele. On this occasion, the young priest and patriot from Torno, Tommaso Bianchi, was invited to compose a poem in his honor. In 1829, Bianchi also wrote the first biography of the inventor of the battery, “Della vita del conte Alessandro Volta patrizio comasco” (The Life of Count Alessandro Volta, Patrician of Como). Under the portico on the western side of the square—the remaining part of a much larger one—there is a plaque commemorating an ancestor of the scientist, Zanino Volta, a grain decurion in the 17th century, when the market was held here.
