Montagnola
Encyclopedia
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....
village in Collina d'Oro
Collina d'Oro
Collina d'Oro is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It was formed from the 2004 union of the villages of Agra, Gentilino, and Montagnola.-History:Gentilino is first mentioned in 1210 as Gentarino...
municipality. Located in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, it is close to the border between 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....
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It looks over 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 the city of Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
upon it. It falls within the local parish of Sant'Abbondio Gentilino.
Landmarks include the house where Herman Hesse lived for half of his life, a house where George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
went for health reasons and The American School In Switzerland
The American School In Switzerland
The American School In Switzerland is a private school that receives elementary, middle, and high school students from many different nations and provides them with a Western-based education. Located in Montagnola, a small town above Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland, it has a current student body of...
(TASIS), a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
.
Montagnola was formerly a municipality of its own, but was merged with Agra
Agra, Switzerland
Agra is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.In 2004 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Gentilino and Montagnola to form a new and larger municipality Collina d'Oro.-History:...
and Gentilino
Gentilino
Gentilino is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.The local Church of Sant'Abbondio is noteworthy for dating from the eleventh century...
in 2004 to form the new municipality Collina d'Oro.
History
Montagnola is first mentioned in 1226.The merger of several formerly separate properties of the monastery of S. Abbondio in Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
in 1535, led to the establishment of the Concilium Sancti Abundii which covered not only Gentilino but the village of Montagnola with the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Vigilio, Orino, Arasio, Certenago, Poprino, Barca and Scairolo. An inventory of the monastery mentioned the presence of a fortress at Arasio.
Montagnola belongs to the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of S. Abbondio at Gentilino. The chapels in S. Silvestro in Arasio and SS Nazaro in Celso were first mentioned in 1270 and 1442 respectively.
The local economy was based on agriculture as well as emigration of architects and builders from the Gilardi, Lucchini, Berra and Camuzzi families into various European countries, especially Russia. Several of these builders were able to create major works in these foreign cities and rise to great fame. The pleasant climate and attractive location of the village attracted many illustrious personalities from abroad including the writer Hermann Hesse. A museum to the writer opened in 1997. Between 1923-27 it was the seat of the prestigious Officina Bodoni
Officina Bodoni
The Officina Bodoni was a private press operated by Giovanni Mardersteig from 1922. It was named after the great eighteenth-century Italian typographer Giambattista Bodoni...
, the printing shop of Hans (later Giovanni) Mardersteig. Since 1956, the city is home to an international school, The American School In Switzerland
The American School In Switzerland
The American School In Switzerland is a private school that receives elementary, middle, and high school students from many different nations and provides them with a Western-based education. Located in Montagnola, a small town above Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland, it has a current student body of...
, which, in 2006, had about 450 students of various nationalities. Because of its proximity to Lugano, Montagnola is now a kind residential suburb of the city.