The oldest extant streets are: Lunaa (from a Celtic root meaning "swampland" was nearest to the river); Casargh (probably from Casearium, place for production of cheese and milk-derivatives) was where people lived and Sumbich (summum vicum – the elevated camp) was where the Roman cohorts settled.

This is commonly rejected by historians (because apparently St. Barnabas never left Cyprus after St. Paul's departure), archaeological proof of a Christian presence in Milan during apostolic times has been found.

On 27 April 1162, in an act signed in Pavia, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, recognized that the possessions of St. Peter's Abbey (built on the east side of mount Cornizzolo) included some fields in Canzo.

[33] On 7 July 1414, Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, brought the former Corte di Casale under the temporal jurisdiction of the Archbishop, and it ceased to be an autonomous authority.

This happened with the consent of the men of Canzo, who swore fidelity to the legitimate Archbishop, Giovanni Visconti and provided him a refuge after he was forced to flee by a pretender to his office.

Canzo's economy had been based on wool weaving, but under its vassalship to the Negronis family, nicknamed "Missaglia", it became the official source of iron for the Duchy of Milan's army, enriching the town.

Entire families moved there from Brescia and Veneto as manpower for these factories, receiving an education in the small workers' city created by Giuseppe and Alessandro Verza.

In the 19th century the Vallassinese Bank arose from the capital of the Prina family and silk worker Magno Magni who pioneered the Italian chemical industry.

The strong moral ideas of Giuseppe Parini, educated in this district, encouraged economist Verri to explain the laws of supply and demand and elaborate the system of modern revenue service, later adopted across the globe.

In 1904, deputy Filippo Turati's party's support in Parliament to Giovanni Giolitti's Italian Government led to the approval of important innovations: laws for the protection of female and young workers, on work accidents, illness, old age, data collection/analysis and acceptance of cooperative societies.

In 1915, Italy entered the World War I in alliance with France and Great Britain, reconquering the Italian territories of Trentino and Friuli, then occupied by the Austro-Hungarian empire.

After Mussolini's alliance with Hitler, Italy enacted race laws, but the population of Canzo, like those of many other Italian cities, acted to protect their Jewish neighbors.

New enterprises were opened, such as the Porroni stone carving company (which created the capitals for Como's Portici Plinio), and manufacturing industries, such as iron scissors.

During winter, winds from the north or east bring dry and cold days; sometimes their interaction with wet tepid masses from the Atlantic or Mediterranean creates the conditions for heavy snowfall.

The flora is composed of oaks, chestnut trees, ironwoods, alders, elms, maples, spruce and firs, with a particularly rich underbrush: strawberries, blueberries and mushrooms.

The Vallassina ends when it receives the flow of the River Foce (coming from Valbrona), which descends in an unexpected waterfall that also marks the beginning of the commune of Canzo.

The River Ravella, in its upper course, often flows through steep limestone canyons, resulting in small waterfalls and with characteristic "giants' mufflers", produced by the action of glaciers, parallel to the anticline and syncline folds forming the structure of the Lombard pre-Alps.

The environment is completely wild as far as Gajum, and is made up of coppices; the quality of its waters is demonstrated by the presence of stream trout, sometimes also visible under the town bridges in Canzo.

St. Francis square features buildings from many architectural periods, particularly the Baroque church, the curt da Pinòla (a medieval poor courtyard), and the ramparts and arch of Villa Meda.

The Magno Magni villa (1903–1906), built into a park extending from Mirabèla and Grimèll, is a product of the architect Pietro Fenoglio, in a neo-medieval style; the exterior is characterized by its Vicentine stones and by the garden, which contains structures such as medieval-style towers surrounding an elaborate interior.

Like the other conservative Brianzoeu dialects, Canzés has a certain number of original Lombard terminations in /tʃ/ (spelled as "cc"): typically, lacc ("milk"), frècc ("cold"), tècc ("roof"), nòcc ("night"), tücc ("everybody").

The masterpieces of Canzese literature in the Lombard language are "In ucasiun" by Tiziano Corti, for poetry (monolingual), and "Al föch" by Cinzia Valli, for prose (bilingual with Italian).

It greatly aided Canzo's tourist development in the second half of the 20th century, along with entertainment events of Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno, the local section of the Public Tourism Agency, now extinct (with the participation of Mike Bongiorno, Adriano Celentano and other stars of the moment).

Gruppo Alpini Canzo organizes other public and tourist events, particularly the Chestnut festival in October–November and the meetings on Mount Cornizzolo, along with concerts of its Polyphonic Choir of Alpine songs.

Other yearly events are the Feast of the Volunteers (by SOS Canzo), the Patronal feast of St. Stephen (26 December), the Magg (in May, the carrying of a fir from the wood to the town by eighteen-year-olds), the Day of the Sun (Lughnasadh, the traditional men's day and celebration of the agriculture of the mountains) and the Cargà i Alp (route in the mountains, recalling the ancient practice of annually moving animals to the upper stables).

The cuisine of northern Brianza is based upon maize (used in polenta and cakes), Italian vegetables (used especially in minestra and minestrone), pork (salami is typical), wine (like that of Montevecchia), cheeses, milk and butter (or lard), rice (as in risotto), game and freshwater fish, and other primary products.

A sweet bread, called pan meino, is characteristic of northern Brianza, along with a kind of fritter, named paradèll in Canzo; fruit mustard is usual with meat.

Native products featured in Canzo's dishes include roast throstles, little birds with polenta and poccen de salsa e fongs secch.

The first map (Mapa di sitt) covers the communal territory and gives the names of the mountains and lesser peaks, of hunting or digging localities, of the springs and rocks, and of ancient main paths and old frazioni (hamlets).

Nowadays, Paredi and Pina are the most widespread and typical surnames: the first may have originally been the common denomination of a Welsh clan established in Canzo's mountains by the emperors as a border defence.