Capolago was a municipality

Municipalities of Switzerland

Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 in the district of Mendrisio

Mendrisio (district)

The district of Mendrisio is the southernmost district of canton of Ticino and of Switzerland. To its north lies the district of Lugano. It is surrounded on the other three sides by Italy: to the east and south by the province of Como, and to the west by the province of Varese...

 in the canton

Cantons of Switzerland

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Ticino

Ticino

Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...

 in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, but is now part of the municipality of Mendrisio. On 25 November 2007 the municipalities of Arzo

Arzo

Arzo was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.It had an area of and a population of 1,126 inhabitants ....

, Capolago, Genestrerio

Genestrerio

Genestrerio was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 5 April 2009 the municipalities of Arzo, Capolago, Genestrerio, Mendrisio, Rancate and Tremona merged into the municipality of Mendrisio....

, Mendrisio

Mendrisio

Mendrisio is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian speaking Switzerland ....

, Rancate

Rancate

Rancate was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 5 April 2009 the municipalities of Arzo, Capolago, Genestrerio, Mendrisio, Rancate and Tremona merged into the municipality of Mendrisio....

 and Tremona

Tremona

Tremona was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 5 April 2009 the municipalities of Arzo, Capolago, Genestrerio, Mendrisio, Rancate and Tremona merged into the municipality of Mendrisio....

 voted to merge into the municipality of Mendrisio. This occurred on 5 April 2009.

Capolago is located on the shores of Lake Lugano

Lake Lugano

Lake Lugano is a glacial lake in the south-east of Switzerland, at the border between Switzerland and Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore...

, and has a landing stage (Capolago Lago) that is served by the lake steamers. It has a station on the Swiss Federal Railways, and is also the lower terminus of the Monte Generoso Railway

Monte Generoso Railway

The Monte Generoso Railway or Ferrovia Monte Generoso is a mountain railway line in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, in south-east Switzerland. The line runs from Capolago, on Lake Lugano, to a terminus near the summit of Monte Generoso. The summit offers extensive views over the Lombardy...

, a mountain railway

Mountain railway

A mountain railway is a railway that ascends and descends a mountain slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade...

 that climbs to the summit of the nearby Monte Generoso

Monte Generoso

The Monte Generoso is a mountain in Switzerland, located in the Lepontine Alps,between Lake Lugano and Lake Como. The western and southern flanks of the mountain lie in the Swiss canton of Ticino, whilst the north-eastern flanks are in the Italian region of Lombardy...

.

Capolago was the birthplace of the architect Carlo Maderno

Carlo Maderno

Carlo Maderno was a Swiss-Italian architect, born in Ticino, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture. His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica and Sant'Andrea della Valle were of key importance in the evolution of the Italian Baroque...

. The town was also home to the historically important Tipografia Elvetica

Tipografia Elvetica

The Tipografia e Libreria Elvetica of Capolago was a nineteenth-century Swiss publishing house, which operated in Canton Ticino from 1830 to 1853 and acquired a particular importance as a clandestine press of the patriots of the Italian Risorgimento....

 press, which published propaganda during the Italian Risorgimento. In 1890, the premises of the printing firm hosted the Capolago Anarchist Congress, attended by Italian anarchist militants such as Pietro Gori

Pietro Gori

Pietro Gori was an Italian lawyer, journalist, intellectual and anarchist poet. He is known for his political activities, and as author of some of the most famous anarchist songs of the late 19th century, including Addio a Lugano , Stornelli d'esilio , Ballata per Sante Caserio Pietro Gori (14...

, Amilcare Cipriani

Amilcare Cipriani

Amilcare Cipriani was an Italian anarchist patriot.Cipriani was born in Anzio to a family originally from Rimini...

, Francesco Saverio Merlino

Francesco Saverio Merlino

Francesco Saverio Merlino was an Italian lawyer, anarchist activist and theorist of libertarian socialism.-Life:...

 and Errico Malatesta

Errico Malatesta

Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist. He was an insurrectionary anarchist early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy and in total spent more than ten years in prison. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of...

. During the Congress, a Revolutionary Anarchist Internationalist Party was founded.