Chironico
| Chironico | ||
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| Former municipality of Switzerland | ||
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 Chironico
Chironico
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Location of Chironico
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| Coordinates: 46°25′N 8°51′E / 46.417°N 8.850°ECoordinates: 46°25′N 8°51′E / 46.417°N 8.850°E | ||
| Country | Switzerland | |
| Canton | Ticino | |
| District | Leventina | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 57.77 km2 (22.31 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 786 m (2,579 ft) | |
| Population (December 2004) | ||
| • Total | 402 | |
| • Density | 7.0/km2 (18/sq mi) | |
| Postal code | 6747 | |
| SFOS number | 5070 | |
| Surrounded by | Anzonico, Dalpe, Faido, Frasco, Giornico, Lavizzara, Sonogno | |
| Website | SFSO statistics |
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Chironico is a former municipality located in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 1 April 2012, it was incorporated into the municipality of Faido along with the former municipalities of Anzonico, Calpiogna, Campello, Cavagnago, Mairengo and Osco.
Chironico is first mentioned in 1202 as Cuirono. The village lies on a terrace that was partly created by a prehistoric landslide on the opposite side of the valley. The core of the settlement, is made up of the sections of Grumo and Nivo, the latter is the only one in the valley bottom. Above the village center, situated on steeply sloping rock terraces are the settlements of Cala, Doro, Olina, and Osadigo Chiesso. These poorly developed and almost entirely surrounded by farmland settlements are difficult to classify: it can not determine whether they are mountain pasture camps (maggenghi) or proper villages. The mountain village of Gribbio has a road connection, which however is not accessible in winter once the snows fall.
Most of the settlements have chapels that were built in the 16th-18th Centuries. In the past they were inhabited during a large part of the year, and during the Middle Ages may have been occupied year round. At one time they were of crucial importance for the economic and social life of the village, now they have been partially turned into holiday resorts. For centuries, many of the residents emigrated, initially to Italy and starting in the 19th Century to France and England.
From the old Vicinanza of Chironico, which included four or five Degagna, six municipal corporations (or patriziali) have emerged, though they are usually no longer owners of the pastures that they used to use.
In the main core of Chironico, with its typical block buildings, is the small church of S. Ambrogio with a medieval twin apsis and remarkable frescoes. Near the church is the Pedrini tower a six-story residential building probably dating from the first half of the 13th Century. On the outskirts of the village is the medieval parish church of S. Maurizio, in which some testimonies of immigrants who were working as innkeepers in Venice, and a valuable martyrology from 14th-15th Centuries is kept.
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Wikipedia