The Ticino canton (equivalent of an Italian Region or US State), protrudes obviously into Italy northwest of Lake Como, and is in the Italian sector of Switzerland (that also have German and French sectors).

Switzerland began expanding southwards into Italian states as early as the 13th century, and seized the lands of Ticino from the Milanese in the early 1500s, giving them both a strategic buffer  for its alpine passes (what a wonderful euphemism and excuse), and a sunny in-country vacation destination. Their conquests were confirmed in a perpetual peace signed with France in 1516 after the Italian wars.

Italian is spoken in Canton Ticino and other valleys of the Graubünden Canton (Mesolcina and Calanca, Bregaglia, Poschiavo), that is - the term has more of a cultural than juridical value - in "Italian Switzerland," a region which, being separated by the Alps from the rest of Switzerland, is historically, but also climatically and culturally (one only need to think of architecture or religious art), open toward the south of Europe.[See "Italian Switzerland" by Renato Martinoni at the End]

SWITZERLAND
That's Italian! Or is it Swiss? In Ticino, it's pleasingly both

The ambience in this area, located in the balmy, lake-laced southern foothills of the Alps, is majorly Mediterranean -- in lifestyles, attitude, architecture and cuisine (there are even palm trees).

The Miami Herald
By Jay Clarke
Sun, Dec. 19, 2004

LUGANO, Switzerland - If your image of Switzerland is of Alps, cows and chocolate factories, you're in for a surprise when you visit this part of the country.

Mountains, bovines and candy are as visible in the Ticino region as in the rest of the country, but the resemblance stops there.

The Swiss here speak Italian, not French or German. The cuisine leans more to pastas than to wursts. Vineyards rather than pastures spread over the valleys, and palm trees rim the shores of the district's beautiful lakes.

It's a glorious combination, which is why hotels and vacation chalets abound. Clear-blue lakes Lugano and Maggiore curl around the base of mountains that climb more than a mile above them. Charming towns and villages, many with legacies that reach back hundreds of years, perch along their shores or nestle in the valleys.

ITALIAN ROOTS

And while Ticino's people are firmly Swiss, their heritage is just as firmly Italian.

Here in Lugano, visitors stroll along the wide promenade that borders the serpentine Lake Lugano, admiring the always inspiring view of mountains and water and pausing perhaps to buy an Italian ice from a street vendor or to watch the swans paddling near the rental-boat docks.

Close by, ringed by flower-bedecked, Lombardic-style buildings in the Old Quarter's Piazza della Riforma, other tourists sip cappuccino in outdoor cafes. Then, perhaps, they'll browse through the upscale shops like Gucci and Louis Vuitton that line the pedestrian-only Via Nassa. More historically oriented visitors continue on to the lakeside St. Mary of the Angels Church, known for its 16th-century frescoes.

SHOPPING, STROLLING

An hour away in Ascona, an equally eye-pleasing waterfront scene greets visitors lolling on the promenade that borders Lake Maggiore. Touristy shops beckon with pricey goods on Anscona's Via Borgo while hotels with sunny balconies provide a panorama of lake, mountains and red-roofed villas.

Visiting the small lakeside villages by boat or car is as rewarding. In photogenic Morcote, for example, one can explore winding alleys and climb a narrow stairway to the church of Santa Maria del Sasso to peruse its ornate frescoes.

Also in Morcote is the Parco Scherrer, on whose grounds are downsized replicas of such famous structures as the Parthenon's Erechtheion and the Temple of Nefertiti.

Away from the lakes, the busy capital of Ticino, Bellinzona, boasts three castles that recently were registered as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Sinuous streets lined with shops wind through the city's charming old quarter.

If all this sounds idyllic, it may be just that for the Swiss who live north of Ticino. With weather that can be irritably dyspeptic, residents in the northern cantons of Switzerland never regret that their troops seized the lands of Ticino from the Milanese in the early 1500s, giving them both a strategic buffer for its alpine passes and a sunny in-country vacation destination.

SOME DEALS

Of course, there are no Edens on earth, and in Ticino the downside for American visitors is the same one they will find throughout Switzerland: Costs. With the Swiss franc creeping above 80 cents to the dollar, this country is expensive for dollar countries. American shoppers may fare a bit better across the border in euro-currency Italy, although it's not cheap, either.

On the other hand, good wine is reasonably priced here. The Ticinese make a superb red merlot, and even offer a smooth white merlot, a wine that's hard to find in the America. Ticinese grappa, a potent Italian brandy favored by the cognoscenti, also is memorable. Local vineyards offer tastings.

Visitors motoring through Ticino will spot many vineyards as well as some trees Americans rarely see, among them chestnuts and quince (a relative of the pear). Chestnuts are a Ticinese specialty, used in several dishes. For an unusual taste treat, try them soaked in grappa.

ONE MODERN SIGHT

A side trip up the Maggia Valley is a treat in other ways. As it climbs toward the higher mountains in the north of Ticino, this ancient valley offers a panorama of history and lifestyles different from that in the lake resorts of Lugano, Locarno and Anscona.

Centuries-old stone houses still support heavy roofs made of granite, which is plentiful here. In the little town of Cevio, still-vibrant frescoes cover the walls of the police station as well as the facade of the Museo Valmaggia.

Little ''chapels'' -- small roadside shrines enclosing religious statues -- appear every now and then on the shoulders of the main valley road. Swiss cantons built dozens of them years ago so that travelers could pause to pray. Some are works of art in themselves.

Another village, Mogno, provides a visual shock: Amid its simple buildings stands a incongruous sight, a round spaceship-like modern church. When an avalanche in 1986 destroyed their old church, the townspeople replaced it with one designed by Mario Botta, architect of the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. At first, the granite-and-marble structure seems completely out of touch with the rest of the village, but it grows on you.

Fusio, a tiny settlement at 4,000 feet of elevation at the end of the valley road, is a mini-tourist destination, with an excellent restaurant and a pretty dam-created lake. High above Lake Sambuco, visitors to the Dazio dairy can see how Valmaggia cheese is made, using 20 percent goat's milk and 80 percent cow's milk. Unlike cheeses made in European Union countries, this is unpasteurized.

Diversions like these give dimension to Ticino. But in the end, it's the people and their way of life that give it its strongest appeal. Their improbable melding of Italian flair with Swiss efficiency creates an ambience found very few places in the world.

That's Italian! Or is it Swiss? In Ticino, it's pleasingly both
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TICINO [teche'no]    Ticino , Fr. and Ger. Tessin, canton (1993 pop. 294,100),

1,086 sq mi (2,813 sq km), S Switzerland, on the southern slope of the central Alps, bordering on Italy. Bellinzona is the capital. Largely a mountainous region, Ticino embraces the Ticino River valley and part of Lago Maggiore and of the Lake of Lugano.

Although it has a pastoral economy, wine is widely produced in the valleys and corn and tobacco are cultivated. There is an extensive hydroelectric system along the Ticino River. Ticino is noted for its resorts, particularly Locarno and Lugano; tourism is the region's most important industy.

The population is mostly Roman Catholic and Italian-speaking. A part of Transpadane Gaul under the Roman Empire,

Ticino later shared the history of Lombardy until the Swiss confederates captured it (15th–16th cent.) from the duchy of Milan. It was ruled until 1798 by Schwyz and Uri cantons and became a Swiss canton in 1803.The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.
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"Italian Switzerland"
http://userhome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/
bonaffini/DP/svizzera.htm