Laino had its beginnings in Roman times. It was founded by 'Inus', a Roman colonist. The first settlement was therefore named 'Ino'. This primitive centre was then completely distroyed by a landslide and nothing remains of it but a street's name 'Via Fonte di Ino'. In the early Middle Ages, Laino fell prey to foreign invaders. It reached the apex of its splendour thanks to the Intelvesi Masters, architects and masons famous not only in Italy but in Europe as well, where they worked for the most important courts of the time. Among the Intelvesi Masters, the Quaglio, Reti, Aliprando, Ferragosto, Barberini, Scotti families are particularly important.

Monuments:
Church of St. Vittore / It stands to the east of the village on the so-called Collina del Castello (Castle Hill) whose name still bears witness to an important medieval fortress, eastern stronghold of the Council of Seprio. The fortress was built, or rebuilt, in 556 a.D by the Milanese subdeacon Marcelliano (whose gravestone, originally in St. Vittore, is now housed in the Civic Museum in Como). It was then enlarged by Franchino Rusca, signore of Como, in the 15th century but then started to fall into decay. Today, only few masonry wall fragments hidden by bushes and trees remain of this old settlement which must have been very important, considering how large the area was. In 1908, a Roman tomb (Civic Museum in Como) was discovered. The castle chapel of St. Vittore still preserves its Romanesque bell tower (12th century). The building was reconstructed in gratitude for the plague end in 1476 and then renovated in the Baroque period. Outside, the church is very austere. On the left side, there is a rustic altar where according to tradition bread is blessed on St. Vittore Day (8th May). The interior has only one nave. It contains two like-size statues of St. Fermo and St. Vittore by G. Battista Barberini (a modeller, born in Laino in 1625. He worked in several Italian and European towns and died in Cremona in 1666). The precious frescoes portraying the Theological Virtues as well as the frescoes depicting stories from the life of St. Vittore in the four side-lunettes and a 1700 canvas portraying the Crucifix between St. Vittore and St. Lawrence are by Domenico Quaglio, a fine painter born in Laino (1668-1751).