Sonvico

Quarter

Coat of arms

Sonvico

Coordinates: 46°03′N 8°59′E / 46.050°N 8.983°ECoordinates: 46°03′N 8°59′E / 46.050°N 8.983°E

Country

Canton

District

City

Area

• Total

11.09 km² (4.28 sq mi)

Elevation

603 m (1,978 ft)

Population (2010-12-31)

• Total

1,837

• Density

170/km² (430/sq mi)

Postal code

6968

SFOS number

5224

ISO 3166 code

CH-TI

Surrounded by

Cadro, Capriasca, Cimadera, Lugano, Valcolla, Valsolda (IT-CO)

Sonvico (Sonvìch in Lombard Language) is a quarter of the city of Lugano and former municipality of the Lugano district in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 14 April 2013 the municipality of Sonvico merged into the municipality of Lugano becoming a new neighborhood. The medieval part of Sonvico village consist is an old citadel with a compacted structure full of narrow and intricate lanes.

Sonvico is first mentioned in 1040 as Summo Vico, from the Latin "Summus Vicus", meaning "the higher located village"

Prehistoric settlement in the area are proved by the findings of a Golasecca culture grave and a plate with a northern Etruscan inscription. During the archaeologic explorations in the San Martino church, Roman and Lombard objects (including a woman's grave with a cross brooch from about 650-700 AD) were discovered. From around the 9th to 10th centuries, the villages of Sonvico, Dino and Villa (later the municipality Villa Lugano, now part of Lugano) formed a community.

In 1326 was testified that Sonvico and neighbors merged into a community known as The Castellanza. During the 16th century, the village of Cimadera joined The Castellanza. Sonvico was strategically located on top of Lugano valley, which was a necessary passage to the Nordic versant of the Alps, through the Gotthard Pass. Additionally, it was strongly fortified with a ring wall and a castle, which was built before 1326 and renovated around the end of the 15th century. These qualities made the Castellanza a strategic base for the House of Visconti and the House of Sforza of the Duchy of Milan until the Battle of Novara (1513). Due to its importance, Sonvico obtained a privilege status from the Duchy and was thus allowed to set many of its own laws enjoying tax and customs exemptions. The first book of law known as "Libbro degli Statuti della Magnifica Comunità di Sonvico" dates from 1473. During the Italian War of 1499-1504 the Swiss took power over the Ticino region and The Castellanza was officially annexed by the Old Swiss Confederacy into their occupied territories in 1512. The village resisted for a while isolated, and only after the signing of a pact for the maintenance of the old privileges respected by the Duchy, ceded its sovereignty to the Swiss. The Swiss accepted the pact, but posed as condition the castle destruction. The Castle was finally destroyed by its inhabitants in 1517. Although the privileges were guaranteed by the pact, their maintenance was only partly respected and the Castellanza felt betrayed by the Swiss.

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Wikipedia