Standing in the middle of the old town on the piazza that shares its name, San Fedele is the older and more immediately striking of Como's two great Romanesque churches. Its most remarkable feature is the trefoil apse — three semicircular apses arranged in a clover pattern — visible from the small streets behind the church. Inside, a 14th-century fresco cycle and some surviving Romanesque capitals repay close attention.
The building dates from around 1120, though it incorporates elements of an earlier church and has been modified at various points since. The campanile was rebuilt in 1271. The facade was restored in a neo-Romanesque campaign in the early 20th century, giving it a cleaner appearance than its age would suggest. The piazza in front is one of the most pleasant small squares in the city — cafés on one side, the church on the other, and a daily rhythm of market stalls and local life in between.