Locarno, Lago Maggiore, Ticino, Switzerland, Europe
Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000 (60,000 for the urban area including Ascona). The official language of Locarno is Italian. It is the 74th biggest city in Switzerland by population and the 3rd biggest of the canton Ticino, after Lugano and Bellinzona. The Locarno International Film Festival takes place every year in August in the city and, at night, on the Piazza Grande. The Locarno Treaties were negotiated here in 1925. In January 2004, the Italian historian Marino Vigano speculated that Locarno's castle may have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Under the Helvetic Republic (1798--1803) Locarno was part of the Canton of Lugano. Following the collapse of the Helvetic Republic, the Act of Mediation, in 1803, created the Canton of Ticino with Locarno as an independent municipality. The Helvetic Republic was very liberal and attempted to reform much of Swiss society. However, the changes were too great and the Republic collapsed. The compromise Act of Mediation changed some aspects of society but left others unchanged. The new municipality of Lucarno was no longer ruled by three different patriziati, which had emerged from the three groups (nobles, borghesi and terrieri), but until the mid-19th century there were institutions that reached back to the Ancien Régime. For example, the community of Locarno and Ascona was dissolved in 1805. Nevertheless, a committee of the representatives of the former communities of Locarno managed, for several decades, the S. Carlo Hospital and schools, which had been shared by the patriziati of the old, combined community. However, the power of the old patriziati gradually weakened. In 1859, the terrieri decided to set aside their corporation. The nobles corporation distributed its assets in 1866-67 to its members and dissolved the archive, but retained until about 1920, the fishing rights. Only the citizens corporation has preserved its status as a civil community. The Constitution of 1814, established Locarno, Bellinzona and Lugano as the capitals of the canton, in a six-year rotation. Locarno was the capital of the canton in 1821-27, 1839--45, 1857--63 and 1875-81. In 1838-39, on the initiative of a group of notables, a government building was built. It was sold in 1893 to private company.
Lake Maggiore is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy The lake and its shoreline are divided between Piedmont and Lombardy region and largest lake of the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great prealpine lakes of Italy, it extends for about 70 kilometres (43 miles) between Locarno and Arona. The climate is mild in both summer and winter, producing Mediterranean vegetation, with beautiful gardens growing rare and exotic plants. Well-known gardens include those of the Isola Madre, Isola Bella and the Isole di Brissago, that of the Villa Taranto in Verbania, and the Alpinia botanical garden above Stresa. Lake Maggiore is 64.37 kilometers / 34¾ nautical miles long, and 3 to 5 km (2 to 3 miles) wide, except at the bay opening westward between Pallanza and Stresa, where it is 10 km (6 mi) wide. It is the longest Italian lake, but Lake Garda has a greater area. Its mean height above the sea level is 193 metres; a deep lake, its bottom is almost everywhere below sea-level: at its deepest, 179 metres below. Its form is very sinuous, so that there are few points from which any considerable part of its surface can be seen at a single glance. If this lessens the effect of the apparent size, it increases the variety of its scenery. While the upper end is completely alpine in character, the middle region lies between hills of gentler form, and the lower end advances to the verge of the plain of Lombardy. The lake basin has tectonic-glacial origins and its volume is 37 cubic kilometres (9 cu mi). The lake has a surface area of about 213 square kilometres (82 sq mi), a maximum length of 54 km (34 mi) and, at its widest, is 12 km (7 mi). Its main tributaries are the Ticino, the Maggia, the Toce (by which it receives the outflow of Lake Orta) and the Tresa (which is the sole emissary of Lake Lugano). The rivers Verzasca, Giona, and Cannobino also flow into the lake. Its outlet is the Ticino which, in turn, joins the river Po just south-east of Pavia. The lake's jagged banks are surrounded by the Lepontine Alps. The western bank is in Piedmont (provinces of Novara and Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola) and the eastern in Lombardy (province of Varese), whereas the most northerly section extends thirteen kilometres (8.1 miles) into the canton of Ticino, where it constitutes its lowest point above sea-level as well as that of Switzerland.