Lugano

Lake Lugano was first cited by Gregory of Tours in 590 AD with the name Ceresio — derived from the Latin cerasus ('cherry'), referring to the abundance of cherry trees that once adorned its shores. The lake covers 48.7 km², with 63% in Switzerland and 37% in Italy, and reaches a maximum depth of 288 metres. It was formed during the last ice age by retreating glaciers carving a deep valley. The dramatic, fjord-like geography distinguishes it from the gentler shores of Lake Como or Lake Maggiore.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angioli houses the most important Renaissance fresco in Switzerland: the Passion and Crucifixion by Bernardino Luini (1480-1532), a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci. Dating to 1529, the fresco covers an entire wall and features approximately 153 figures — soldiers on horseback, crowds, and the three crosses at the centre. The church was built between 1499 and 1500 as part of a Franciscan monastery founded in 1490, located on Lugano's lakeside promenade.

On 15 February 1798, Lugano residents stormed the town hall. Rather than join Napoleon's Cisalpine Republic, they erected a liberty tree on Piazza Grande (today Piazza della Riforma) and declared themselves 'liberi e svizzeri' ('free and Swiss'). The square was renamed Piazza della Riforma in 1830 to commemorate the reform of the cantonal Constitution. In 1803, the Act of Mediation unified the eight former bailiwicks into the Canton of Ticino.

Monte San Salvatore (912 m), known as Switzerland's Sugar Loaf Mountain, towers over Lugano from the south. According to ancient legend, Christ himself stopped to rest on this summit during his Ascension to heaven. Since 1200, pilgrims have climbed the steep path from Paradiso to the summit. A chapel existed from the 13th century; the current church was built in 1722. The funicular railway from Paradiso has operated since 1890, climbing 600 metres in altitude.

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) arrived in Montagnola above Lugano in 1919. He rented rooms in the Casa Camuzzi, a villa designed by Ticinese architects who had worked in 19th-century Saint Petersburg. In the peace of Ticino, Hesse rediscovered writing and took up watercolour painting. Major works written there include Siddhartha (1922) and Steppenwolf (1927). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. The Museo Hermann Hesse, inaugurated in 1997 in the Torre Camuzzi, preserves tokens of his last 43 years as writer and painter.

Gandria, first documented in 1237, was originally only accessible by boat and steep trails. Across the lake at Cantine di Gandria stands the Swiss Customs Museum, housed in a former border post accessible only by boat. The museum tells the story of smuggling on the Swiss-Italian border: in November 1948, Italian border guards discovered a 3-metre-long submarine on the lake bank, capable of transporting 450 kg of contraband. A road finally connected Gandria to Lugano and Italy only in 1935.

The Tipografia Elvetica in nearby Capolago (1830-1853), founded by Genoese exile Alessandro Repetti, was the most important clandestine press of the Italian Risorgimento — printing works by Mazzini, Cattaneo, Gioberti, and d'Azeglio, smuggled across the border into Italy. Collaborator Luigi Dottesio was executed by the Austrians in 1851. Carlo Cattaneo, leader of the Five Days of Milan (March 1848), lived in exile in Castagnola near Lugano from 1848, serving as professor of philosophy at the Lyceum of Lugano until his death in 1869.

Swissminiatur, opened in 1959 in Melide, is the only miniature park in Switzerland, covering 14,000 m² with over 130 models at 1:25 scale of Switzerland's most famous buildings and monuments. It features 3,560 metres of miniature railway with 18 trains, plus boats, funiculars, and cars. Notable models include the castles of Bellinzona, the Federal Palace in Bern, and Piazza Grande in Locarno.