The Helvetic Republic, as at the constitution of 12 April 1798, showing the canton of Lugano in orange-brown, lower-centre. Bellinzona is shown immediately to Lugano's north, in green.
As with the other cantons of the Helvetic Republic, the autonomy of Lugano was very limited, the republic having been founded by Napoleon in order to further centralise power in Switzerland. The canton was led by a Directory of five members, who appointed a "national préfet", the first of whom was Giacomo Buonvicini.
The canton was riven with dispute between "patriots", supporting the Cisalpine Republic, and traditionalist "aristocrats". The politics of the central government — the seizure of church property, the introduction of direct taxation, mandatory military service, an amnesty favouring Cisalpine patriots and a law regarding municipalities that rejected the secular tradition of communal autonomy — as well as the military occupation by the French Revolutionary Armies, with its associated violence and requisitions, all combined to maintain a level of hostility to the new régime within the local population, which eventually rose up against the régime.
In Lugano, during anti-French protests of 28 April and 29 April 1799, the printer Agnelli's was looted and the abbot Giuseppe Lodovico Maria Vanelli and other Cisalpine patriots were killed; the préfet Francesco Capra, who succeeded Buonvicini earlier that year, fled and power passed to a provisional government sympathetic to the Habsburgs. Similar protests erupted in Mendrisio and Locarno. The arrival of Austro-Russian troops led to further requisition and pillage, leading to further shortages amongst the local population. French occupation was restored in 1800, with further consequences for the Luganese. Commissioner Heinrich Zschokke re-established the authority of the Helvetic Republic on his arrival; a new préfet was appointed, Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Franzoni.
After two abortive attempts to unite Lugano with Bellinzona in the first two years of the 19th century, popular discontent, combined with fiscal pressure and a disastrous economic situation, led to a revolt in Capriasca early in 1802, which led to the autumn pronunciamento of Pian Povrò, named for the location of a district general congress, between Massagno and Breganzona, which declared the independence of Lugano from the Helvetic client republic.
With the Act of Mediation, the following year, political agitation was finally quelled, as were the struggles between unionists and federalists; merger with Bellinzona was at last completed, creating the Ticino, which endures to the present day.
Ticino, sometimes Tessin, officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzona. It is also traditionally divided into the Sopraceneri and the Sottoceneri, respectively north and south of Monte Ceneri. Red and blue are the colours of its flag.
Lugano is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population of 62,315, and an urban agglomeration of over 150,000. It is the ninth largest Swiss city.
Locarno is a southern Swiss town and municipality in the district Locarno, located on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore at its northeastern tip in the canton of Ticino at the southern foot of the Swiss Alps. It has a population of about 16,000 (proper), and about 56,000 for the agglomeration of the same name including Ascona besides other municipalities.
The Helvetic Republic was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, marking the end of the ancien régime in Switzerland. Throughout its existence, the republic incorporated most of the territory of modern Switzerland, excluding the cantons of Geneva and Neuchâtel and the old Prince-Bishopric of Basel.
There are 106 municipalities in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland,. Municipalities (comuni) are grouped in circles (circoli) which are part of districts (distretti).
The Università della Svizzera italiana, sometimes referred to as the University of Lugano in English-speaking contexts, is a public Swiss university established in 1995, with campuses in Lugano, Mendrisio and Bellinzona. USI is the only university in Switzerland where the official language is Italian, but many of its programs are in English.
Bellinzona was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic, with its capital in Bellinzona.
Raetia was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, corresponding to modern Graubünden and composed of the Free State of the Three Leagues. Until 1799, the canton was administered by the central government of the Helvetic Republic.
Monte Ceneri is a mountain pass in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It connects the Magadino Plain and the Vedeggio Valley across the Lugano Prealps at an elevation of 554 metres (1,818 ft) above sea level. It provides the most direct route between the cities of Bellinzona and Lugano. Despite its name, Monte Ceneri is the lowest point on the crest between Monte Tamaro and the Camoghè.
Subdivisions of the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, are the 108 comuni grouped into 38 circoli, which in turn form a part or the whole of one of the eight districts.
Bellinzona railway station serves the town of Bellinzona, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is on the Swiss Federal Railways' Gotthard line. The station is nicknamed Porta del Ticino since the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016.
TILO is a limited company established in 2004 as a joint venture between Italian railway company Trenord and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS); both companies participate in the equity of TILO SA with participation of 50%.
The French invasion of Switzerland occurred from January to May 1798 as part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The independent Old Swiss Confederacy collapsed from the invasion and simultaneous internal revolts called the "Helvetic Revolution". The Swiss Ancien Régime institutions were abolished and replaced by the centralised Helvetic Republic, one of the sister republics.
The transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy were military expeditions which resulted in the conquest of territories south of the Alps, corresponding more or less to the modern canton of Ticino, on the part of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th and 16th centuries. These territories were known as ennetbirgische Vogteien or "transmontane bailiwicks".
The Lugano Prealps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Canton Ticino and in Lombardy.
Lugano-Paradiso railway station is a railway station in the municipality of Paradiso in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The station is on the Gotthard railway of the Swiss Federal Railways, between Lugano and Chiasso. The station opened in 1945 and was renovated in 2018.
Mendrisio railway station is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Ticino and municipality of Mendrisio. The station is on the Swiss Federal Railways Gotthard railway, between Lugano and Chiasso, and is also the junction for the Mendrisio–Varese line, formerly freight-only, but which was rebuilt as an international connection to Varese.
Giubiasco railway station is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Ticino and municipality of Bellinzona. The station is on the Swiss Federal Railways Gotthard railway, between Bellinzona and Lugano, and is a junction point with several other lines.
The RE80 is a RegioExpress service that runs every half-hour between Locarno and Chiasso in the Swiss canton of Ticino, with every other train continuing to Milano Centrale in Milan, Italy. The service is operated by Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia (TILO), a joint venture between the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenord.
The S50 is a railway service that runs every hour between Biasca and Malpensa Aeroporto Terminal 1 in the Swiss canton of Ticino and the Italian state of Lombardy, respectively. Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia (TILO), a joint venture of Swiss Federal Railways and Trenord, operates the service.
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