Somasca is a hamlet in the northern Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region of Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, situated in the hills overlooking the south-eastern branch of Lake Como

Lake Como

Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...

. For purposes of local government it counts as a frazione

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

of the Commune of Vercurago, which falls within the Province of Lecco

Province of Lecco

The Province of Lecco is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco.On 1 January 2001 the province had a population of 311,452 on a surface of 816 km² divided in 90 communes...

.

History

Somasca is known chiefly for having given its name to the Somaschi Fathers

Somaschi Fathers

The Somascan Fathers are a charitable religious congregation of priests and brothers, founded in Italy in the 16th century by Saint Jerome Emiliani and named after the mother-house at Somasca. They are often called Somascans for short. Their formal name is Ordo Clericorum Regularium a Somascha,...

, an order of priests

Clerks Regular

The term Clerks Regular designates a number of Catholic priests who are members of a religious order of priests, but in the strictest sense of the word are not Canons Regular.-Canonical Status:...

 devoted to charitable works which was founded by Saint Gerolamo Emiliani in 1532.