Broglio, Switzerland

Broglio is a village and former municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.

In 2004 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Brontallo, Fusio, Menzonio, Peccia and Prato-Sornico to form a new and larger municipality Lavizzara.

Broglio is first mentioned in 1361 as Brono.

The existing village area has developed in several stages. It was created in 1374, when the valley (comunità) Lavizzara broke up and divided its lands. At the end of the 16th century it grew again through a series of agreements between the neighboring communities.

The Church of S. Maria Lauretana was dedicated in 1487. In the following centuries, it was repeatedly rebuilt and restored. It belonged to the Sornico parish until 1616, when it became an independent parish. The historically significant building, Casa Pometta, is from the 17th century.

The highest population in the village was during the 17th century. The slow population decline intensified in the late 19th century with emigration to the cities and to other countries. In 1990, agriculture and livestock, which for centuries were the main sources of income, employed about a third of the workforce. In recent decades, the number of vacation homes has increased markedly.

Broglio has an area, as of 1997^[update], of 12.94 square kilometers (5.00 sq mi). Of this area, 0.26 km² (0.10 sq mi) or 2.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.88 km² (2.66 sq mi) or 53.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.15 km² (37 acres) or 1.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.25 km² (0.097 sq mi) or 1.9% is either rivers or lakes and 5.33 km² (2.06 sq mi) or 41.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.5%. Out of the forested land, 41.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 8.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.3% is used for growing crops. Of the water in the village, 0.5% is in lakes and 1.5% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 18.9% is unproductive vegetation and 22.3% is too rocky for vegetation.

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