Morcote is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Ticino situated about 10 kilometres from Lugano in the district of Lugano on the shore of Lake Lugano.
History
right|thumb|upright|Morcote's lakefront. The town's development and history are connected to the lake
thumb|Aerial view from 100 m by [[Walter Mittelholzer (1929)]]
Morcote is first mentioned historically in 926 as Murcau, which comes from the Latin Morae caput, meaning head of the hill. In 1353 it was mentioned as Murchoe and again in 1453 as Murchote.
Starting around 1100, Morcote was home to a castle that was built to guard and control commerce on the lake. Until the dam was built in Melide in 1847, Morcote was the largest port on Lake Lugano. Goods from northern Italy were shipped across the lake to the rest of Ticino. In 1422 the town was granted privileges by the Duke of Milan, which included the rights to impose taxes, self-government, independent fishing and the right to hold markets. After the plague year of 1432, only seven families survived in the town.
The municipality is located in the Lugano district, between Lake Lugano and Monte Arbostora. It consists of the village of Morcote, the village of Vico until 1803 and between 1803–16, Carabietta.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess gules a shepherdess sitting on a garb all argent and vert a sow and her piglets also argent.
Heritage sites of national significance
thumb|The parish church of Santa Maria del Sasso
The Chapel of S. Antonio Abate with its monumental staircase, the Parish Church of S. Maria del Sasso with Oratory, the Cimitero monumentale (Cemetery) and Scherrer Park are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Morcote is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Sites
The church of Santa Maria del Sasso was probably built in the 13th century. It was completely rebuilt in 1462 in the style of the Renaissance. In 1758 it was renovated in the Baroque style, while in the 18th century a monumental staircase was added to the front of the church. The church contains several valuable frescos from the 16th and 17th centuries including one painting that is dated to 1513.
Demographics
Morcote has a population () of . , 42.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. In 2015 a large minority (159 or 20.7% of the population) was born in Italy. Over the last 6 years (2010-2016) the population has changed at a rate of 4.57%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2016, was 14.4, while the death rate was 9.2 per thousand residents. Of the Swiss national languages (), 142 speak German, 14 people speak French, 529 people speak Italian, and 2 people speak Romansh. The remainder (67 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 47.5% male and 52.5% female. The population was made up of 229 Swiss men (30.7% of the population), and 125 (16.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 270 Swiss women (36.2%), and 122 (16.4%) non-Swiss women.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 12.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 60.7% of the population and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 26.7%. There were only 54 children under 10 and 43 teenagers under 20 (only 12.6% of the population under 20 vs 20.1% nationally). In 2015 there were 281 single residents, 373 people who were married or in a civil partnership, 50 widows or widowers and 65 divorced residents.
In 2016 there were 403 private households in Morcote with an average household size of 1.84 persons. In 2015 about 66.6% of all buildings in the municipality were single family homes, which is about the same as the percentage in the canton (68.1%) and greater than the percentage nationally (57.4%). Of the 394 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 71.6% were single family homes and 21.8% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 4.1% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 1.8% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2015 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 10.4. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.54%.
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Notable people
- Domenico Rossi (1657 in Morcote – 1737) a Swiss-Italian architect
- Davide Antonio Fossati (1708 in Morcote - 1795) a painter and etcher
Politics
In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the FDP with 49.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Ticino League (14.2%), the SVP (13.2%) and the SP (10.8%). In the federal election, a total of 245 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 59.3%. The 2015 election saw a large change in the voting when compared to 2011., while the percentage that the SP dropped from 18.1% to 10.8%.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 49.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.65%), the SVP (12.94%) and the Ticino League (7.36%). In the federal election, a total of 205 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.0%.
In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 446 registered voters in Morcote, of which 297 or 66.6% voted. 5 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 291 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 148 or 50.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the SSI (with 45 or 15.5%), the PS (with 44 or 15.1%) and the PPD+GenGiova (with 14 or 4.8%).
In the Consiglio di Stato election, 5 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 291 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 139 or 47.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 56 or 19.2%), the SSI (with 38 or 13.1%) and the LEGA (with 35 or 12.0%).
, there were a total of 239 people employed in the municipality. There were no jobs or businesses in the primary economic sector in the municipality. The secondary sector employed 41 workers in seven separate businesses, of which one employed 30 of the workers. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 198 jobs in 69 businesses, of which one employed 73 workers.
In 2016 a total of 10.4% of the population received social assistance.
In 2015 local hotels had a total of 3,008 overnight stays, of which 32.8% were international visitors.
In 2015 the average cantonal, municipal and church tax rate in the municipality for a couple with two children making was 2.2% while the rate for a single person making was 14.9%. The canton has one of the lowest average tax rates for those making and an average rate for those making . In 2013 the average income in the municipality per tax payer was and the per person average was , which is greater than the cantonal averages of and respectively It is also greater than the national per tax payer average of and the per person average of .
The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.1 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 24.5% of the workforce coming into Morcote are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.9% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 6.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.5% used a private car. There were 11 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 5 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 14 students in Morcote who came from another municipality, while 52 residents attended schools outside the municipality.