Brissago

Brissago (, ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland, bordering Italy. Brissago lies on the western shore of Lake Maggiore and includes the Brissago Islands.

History

An ax and ceramic pieces from the Neolithic era as well as Roman coins and other finds, discovered in 1846 in Brenscino, indicate that the area was prehistorically settled. In 1863, during the construction of the main road, some graves were discovered. Fragments of a grave stele with inscriptions were built into the (now destroyed) Church of San Pancrazio on Isola Grande.

Brissago is first mentioned in 1289 as Brixago. It used to be known by the German name of Brisa, though this is no longer used.

The municipality is located in the Locarno district, on the shores of Lake Maggiore. It is bordered by the Valmara and Valle di Creda and consists of three mountainous shoreline sections. The three sections are divided by the Valli di Ponte and the Sacro Monte. It lies on the road to Ascona along the Italian border. It consists of the village of Brissago and the sections of Caccio, Cadogno, Cartogna, Gadero, Incella, Madonna di Ponte, Nevedone, Noveledo, Piazza, Piodina, Porta, Rossorino, Tecetto and the two islands Isola Grande and Sant'Apollinare. The 13 sections are scattered in the hills on roads leading to Mount Gridone (). On the other side of Mount Gridone is the Centovalli.

Transportation

Regular boat service and hydrofoil service runs from Locarno to Brissago via Ascona and the Isole di Brissago (Brissago Islands) on which there is a botanical reserve with coffee plants and peacocks taking advantage of the odd sub-tropical zone.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a cross gules and in canton St. George riding a horse toward sinister argent cloaked gules killing a dragon vert. St. George refers to 24 April 1520 (St. George's day) when Brissago decided to be put under the protection of the Swiss.

Demographics

thumb|Municipal administration building

Brissago has a population () of . , 18.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 2.6%.

Most of the population () speaks Italian (69.1%), with German being second most common (24.9%) and French being third (1.3%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 456 speak German, 23 people speak French, 1,267 people speak Italian, and 5 people speak Romansh. The remainder (82 people) speak another language.

, the gender distribution of the population was 48.1% male and 51.9% female. The population was made up of 710 Swiss men (38.4% of the population), and 178 (9.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 800 Swiss women (43.3%), and 159 (8.6%) non-Swiss women.

, there were 862 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.9 persons per household.

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.47%. there were 2,420 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 771. There were 170 single room apartments and 336 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 853 apartments (35.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,547 apartments (63.9%) were seasonally occupied and 20 apartments (0.8%) were empty.

{| class="wikitable"

! year

! population

| 1578

| 1,675

| 1801

| 1,330

| 1850

| 1,266

| 1860

| 1,136

| 1900

| 1,639

| 1930

| 1,577

| 1950

| 1,931

| 1970

| 2,120

| 1990

| 1,909

| 2000

| 1,833

Heritage sites of national significance

The Ruggero Leoncavallo Museum, the churches of Madonna del Ponte and Santuario di S. Maria Addolorata del Sacro Monte and the botanical garden and cult site on Isole di Brissago are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire Isole di Brissago is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

File:Isole di Brissago House.jpg|Isole di Brissago botanical gardens

File:Brissago Sacro Monte 002.jpg|Church S. Maria Addolorata del Sacro Monte

File:Switzerland, Brissago alte Kirche1932.jpg|Church of Madonna del Ponte in 1932

</gallery>

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 37.14% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (23.44%), the CVP (12.44%) and the SVP (10.85%). In the federal election, a total of 602 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.5%.

In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 1,407 registered voters in Brissago, of which 715 or 50.8% voted. 13 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 701 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 238 or 34.0% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 181 or 25.8%), the SSI (with 79 or 11.3%) and the LEGA (with 70 or 10.0%).

In the Consiglio di Stato election, 9 blank ballots were cast, leaving 707 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 218 or 30.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 201 or 28.4%), the LEGA (with 102 or 14.4%) and the SSI (with 77 or 10.9%). Of the working population, 5.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.5% used a private car.

Religion

thumb|upright|Church of S. Maria Addolorata del Sacro Monte in Brissago

From the , 1,316 or 71.8% were Roman Catholic, while 260 or 14.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 191 individuals (or about 10.42% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 66 individuals (or about 3.60% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Brissago about 67.5% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). There were 11 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 25 who attend part-time.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 3 students in the professional program.

, there were 56 students in Brissago who came from another municipality, while 127 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

In popular culture

Brissago is the location of a summit for global nuclear disarmament in H. G. Wells' Utopian novel The World Set Free, a pivotal moment in the novel.