Gambarogno: Difference between revisions

Gambarogno
Municipality
Vira (Gambarogno) village
Location of Gambarogno
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Ticino
District	Locarno
Government
• Mayor	Tiziano Ponti
Area [1]
• Total	51.74 km2 (19.98 sq mi)
Elevation	196 m (643 ft)
Population  (31 December 2018)[2]
• Total	5,192
• Density	100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	6573
SFOS number	5398
ISO 3166 code	CH-TI
Localities	Caviano, Contone, Gerra Gambarogno, Indemini, Magadino, Piazzogna, San Nazzaro, Sant'Abbondio and Vira Gambarogno
Website	https://www.gambarogno.ch SFSO statistics

Gambarogno is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It was created on 25 April 2010 through the merger of the municipalities of Caviano, Contone, Gerra Gambarogno, Indemini, Magadino, Piazzogna, San Nazzaro, Sant'Abbondio and Vira Gambarogno.^[3]

History

Caviano is first mentioned in 1258 as Caviliano.^[4] Contone is first mentioned in 1152 as Gondono.^[5] The name Gerra is probably from the 18th Century, when the village of Ronco de Martignoni (which was first mentioned in 1591) expanded into the Gerra river delta and the shores of Lake Maggiore.^[6] Indemini is first mentioned in 1260 as Indemine.^[7] Magadino is first mentioned in 1254 as de Magadino. It was also previously known, in German, as Megadin though this name is no longer used.^[8] Piazzogna is first mentioned in 1337 as Piazognia.^[9] San Nazzaro is first mentioned in 1258 as sancto Nazario.^[10] Sant'Abbondio is first mentioned in 1192 as Sancto Abundio.^[11]

Caviano

In 1264 and again in 1365, the Bishop of Como transferred part of the tithes of the Gambarogno valley, including Caviano and Scaiano, to the Magoria and Duno families from Locarno. Caviano originally belonged to the parish of Locarno, then in 1558 to Sant'Abbondio. It became a separate parish in 1850. The old church, the foundation is pre-Roman, was demolished in 1864 after the completion of the new church of S. Maria Nascente. Due to limited fishing and farming land, much of the population emigrated to other cantons or countries. The old outskirts of the village is still easily visible. In the settlement of Cento Campi, there were a number of alpine shelters and barns with thatched roofs, though most have fallen into disrepair. This type of shelter/barn was commonly used on the pastures (monti) around Lake Maggiore.^[4]

Contone

Three tombs have been discovered in Contone, which can be dated earlier than the Early Middle Ages. These tombs date to the reopening of the alpine passes.

Some time before 1219, a Hospital of the Knights Hospitaller was built in the village. However, the exact foundation year and location are controversial. It was later Commandry of the Order of Malta. In the 16th Century, the Commandry estates went to the hospital in Lugano and in 1811 to the Antognini family of Bellinzona.^[5]

In 1104, the Lombard nobleman Wido Samarate built or rebuilt a church and presented it to the Benedictine monastery of S. Giorgio in Quartino. The church, which was dedicated to St. Nicholas, was incorporated in 1152 into the parish of Locarno. It was closed in 1769 and fell apart. The parish church of S. Giovanni Battista was built in the 16th Century church, on the site of the hospital church.^[5]

The inhabitants of Contone lived as herders and farmers, mostly on the lowest part of the slope of Mount Ceneri. After 1850, the employment situation changed because of the decline of the port of Magadino and railway construction. Many inhabitants emigrated abroad and found work as painters, plasterers and stove-makers. With immigration of, mainly Italian, day laborers, the population began to grow. At the end of the 20th Century most jobs were in the services sector. After the correction of the Ticino river, the vast, formerly marshy plain became home to a number of commercial and industrial buildings.^[5]

Gerra (Gambarogno)

Gerra was part of the old Vicinanza of Gambarogno. In the 16th Century, Ronco de Martignoni, Ronco di Sopra and Scimiana joined together to form an independent municipality. This municipality is listed in the register of lands of the parish of S. Abbondio from 1596. In 1744, the St. Rochus and Sebastian parish church was built.^[6]

Of the three inhabited settlement cores, Scimiana has remained nearly unchanged. The network of narrow streets and typical Gambarogno style alleys have been preserved, while most of the wooden balconies are gone and the fishermen's houses have disappeared. At the beginning of the 21st Century more than half the working population is employed in the services sector, and most work outside of the municipality.^[6]

Indemini

In the Middle Ages it was part of the Vicinanza of Gambarogno. In the 17th Century there were disputes over alpine pastures and forest owned by the village cooperatives of the Valle Veddasca and the Malcantone. In 1752, these border disputes were resolved with the Treaty of Varese. In 1800, the Helvetic government considered exchanging Indemini for Campione d'Italia in the Cisalpine Republic.

A vice-parish was formed in 1556 after they broke away from the parish of Vira. The church of San Bartolomeo, which is probably built before 1213, was expanded in the 17th Century and renovated in the 19th Century.

The village was isolated for most of its history. It wasn't until 1917-18 that a roadway was built on the Swiss side. A road from Italy wasn't built until 1964. The isolation helped Indemini to retain its rural appearance. In the past, the village economy relied on agriculture, but it declined in importance in the 1970s and 80s. During most of the year, the village is mostly abandoned, but in the summer season the population expands rapidly.^[7]

Magadino

During the Late Middle Ages the village was mentioned when certain feudal rights were transferred from the Bishop of Como to the Capitanei of Locarno transferred. Until 1342, these rights included the right to collect tolls on goods traveling through the area. The village of Quartino was, in the 11th to 16th Centuries, a Benedictine priory. The priory of St. George belonged to the abbey of S. Benigno di Fruttuaria in Piedmont, then to S. Gemolo di Ganna in Lombardy. In the 17th Century the monastic estates came to the hospital in Locarno.^[8]

Together with the villages of Quartino and Orgnana, Magadino belonged to the parish of S. Pietro in Vira, until it became an independent parish in 1846. The church of San Carlo was built in 1844-46.

The Codice delle strade di Como (1335) mentions a tower in Magadino, though no trace of the tower has been found. A castle is also mentioned in a chronicle from the 17th century, but it is also lost. The chronicle says it was built in 1365 on the orders of Galeazzo Visconti for the inhabitants of Locarno and destroyed in 1518 by the Swiss.^[8]

Magadino was a major port and an important customs station at the transit route north from Lombardy to the cities of the Alps, and its importance grew in 1515 after the collapse of the bridge over the Ticino river at Bellinzona. With the introduction of regular steamship traffic (1826) and the opening of the road over the Gotthard Pass (1830) Magadino became a stop on the coach routes. Many new warehouses, hotels and restaurants were built, some of which are still visible today. The decline of the port began with the opening of the railway lines to Locarno (1874) and Luino (1882). The town stagnated between the 1880's until the 1960s. In 2000, the majority of the population worked outside the village. In 2005, almost half of the jobs were in the services sector.^[8]

Geography

Gambarogno has an area, as of 1997^[update], of Template:Km2 to mi2. Of this area, Template:Km2 to mi2 or 11.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while Template:Km2 to mi2 or 76.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, Template:Km2 to mi2 or 7.5% is settled (buildings or roads), Template:Km2 to mi2 or 1.2% is either rivers or lakes and Template:Km2 to mi2 or 5.7% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 64.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.1% is used for growing crops and 4.6% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.8% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 4.9% is unproductive vegetation.^[12]

Heritage sites of national significance

The Complesso di S. Carlo, a church and parish house, and the Villa Ghisler, both in the village of Magadino, are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The villages of Indemini and Magadino-Rivabella are both listed in the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.^[13]

Historic Population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Weather

Magadino village in Gambarogno has an average of 103 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives Template:Mm to in of precipitation. The wettest month is May during which time Magadino receives an average of Template:Mm to in of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 12.9 days. The driest month of the year is December with an average of Template:Mm to in of precipitation over 5.5 days.^[15]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gambarogno.