The ANNOTICO Report
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
Providence Journal
Knight Ridder Newspapers
By Jay Clarke
Sunday, May 8, 2005
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 this alpine nation, 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.
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.
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 Erechtheion
in Athens and Egypt's
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.
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.
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 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.
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 an 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.
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.
http://www.projo.com/travel/
content/projo_20050508_ticino.1d090cb.html