Bissone
Encyclopedia
Bissone is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 in the district of Lugano
Lugano (district)
The district of Lugano is a district of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. It has a population of .-Geography:The Lugano District has an area, , of . Of this area, or 15.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 66.5% is forested...

, in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

History

Bissone is first mentioned in 735 and again in 854 as Blixuni. In German it was known as Byssen, though that name is no longer used.

In the 8th Century it was home to a Lombard
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 garrison and supported the fortresses in Campione d'Italia, Arogno and Brusino Arsizio. Starting in the 9th Century, the monastery of S. Ambrogio
Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio is a church in Milan, northern Italy.-History:One of the most ancient churches in Milan, it was built by St. Ambrose in 379-386, in an area where numerous martyrs of the Roman persecutions had been buried. The first name of the church was in fact Basilica...

 in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 owned property in Bissone. The parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of St. Carpoforo, became partly independent in 1474 from the from the mother church at Riva San Vitale
Riva San Vitale
Riva San Vitale is a municipality in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland, located in the district of Mendrisio.Riva San Vitale is also the home of the Virginia Tech Center for European Studies and Architecture , the European campus center and base of operations for the regional activities of...

. It became fully independent in 1622, but retained a relationship with the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro is a Roman Catholic basilica of the Augustinians in Pavia, Italy, in the Lombardy region. Its name refers to the mosaics of gold leaf behind glass tesserae that formerly decorated the ceiling of the apse. The plain exterior is of brick, with sandstone quoins and window...

 in Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...

. The Oratory
Oratory (worship)
An oratory is a Christian room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.-Catholic church:In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass...

 of St. Rocco was built around 1630.

During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, at the site of today's Casa Tencalla, there was a castle. The castle is first mentioned in 1054. On the mountain side surrounded by fortified walls, were the entrance gates to the village. Bissone was the center of the Ghibellines'
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...

 resistance during the dispute between Milan and Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....

 (1118–27). Following the French invasion in 1798 and the end of the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

, it became a stronghold of supporters of the Cisalpine Republic
Cisalpine Republic
The Cisalpine Republic was a French client republic in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802.-Birth:After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte proceeded to organize two states: one to the south of the Po River, the Cispadane Republic, and one to the north, the Transpadane...

. However, on 3 march 1798 it was taken over by Pro-Swiss forces from Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...

.

Bissone was the home of the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...

 and numerous construction and architecture dynasties such as the Maderno, Gaggini, Tencalla and Garovaglio families. The local economy always relied primarily on fishing and the fish trade. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, Bissone, Morcote and Melide had a monopoly on selling fish in Lugano. Another source of income was providing ferries across the lake. During the 14th to 17th Centuries a number of large houses with impressive arcades were built for the local merchants. Later, emigration together with wine, olive and hemp cultivation became the major sources of income. With the construction of the road (1847) and rail embankment (1874) from Melide, Bissone lost its traditional trade income. The highway was built in 1966, and separated the old village from the newer housing developments. Since 1950 the economic structure is dominated by the services sector and commuters to Lugano. Bissone is part of the tourist region on Lake Lugano.

Geography

Bissone has an area, , of 1.82 square kilometre (0.702705928638414 sq mi). Of this area, 0.22 km² (0.0849424748903577 sq mi) or 12.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.48 km² (0.571431194716952 sq mi) or 81.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.38 km² (0.146718820265163 sq mi) or 20.9% is settled (buildings or roads).

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 12.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, 79.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.1% is used for growing crops and 12.1% is used for alpine pastures.

The municipality is located in the Lugano district on the eastern end of the Melide Dam. It is located on the shore of Lake Lugano
Lake Lugano
Lake Lugano is a glacial lake in the south-east of Switzerland, at the border between Switzerland and Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore...

, in the southernmost tip of Switzerland.

Coat of arms

The blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

 of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is Argent two serpents erect regauardant azure.

Demographics

Bissone has a population of . , 35.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 4.6%.

Most of the population speaks Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 (82.1%), with German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 being second most common (11.3%) and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...

 being third (2.0%). Of the Swiss national languages , 80 speak German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, 12 people speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, 584 people speak Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

. The remainder (35 people) speak another language.

, the gender distribution of the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 249 Swiss men (30.5% of the population), and 163 (20.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 280 Swiss women (34.3%), and 124 (15.2%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 8 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 4 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 20 non-Swiss men and 8 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 1 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 13 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.5%.

The age distribution, , in Bissone is; 66 children or 8.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 58 teenagers or 7.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 68 people or 8.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 128 people or 15.7% are between 30 and 39, 155 people or 19.0% are between 40 and 49, and 119 people or 14.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 97 people or 11.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 77 people or 9.4% are between 70 and 79, there are 48 people or 5.9% who are over 80.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.53 which is less people per room than the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 45.1% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 348 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2. persons per household. there were 153 single family homes (or 59.3% of the total) out of a total of 258 inhabited buildings. There were 45 two family buildings (17.4%) and 40 multi-family buildings (15.5%). There were also 20 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%. there were 558 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 147. There were 49 single room apartments and 123 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 346 apartments (62.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 198 apartments (35.5%) were seasonally occupied and 14 apartments (2.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.5 new units per 1000 residents.

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1591 c. 300
1696 260
1850 302
1900 318
1950 397
2000 711

Heritage sites of national significance

The Parish Church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of S. Carpoforo is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

. The entire village of Bissone is listed in the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...


Politics

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....

 which received 36.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

 (20.33%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (18.23%) and the Ticino League
Ticino League
The Ticino League is an isolationist, national conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.In 1991, after some public campaigning in the Sunday journal Mattino della Domenica against political power and use of public money, the editor Giuliano Bignasca and the...

 (14.07%). In the federal election, a total of 266 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 51.9%.

In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 517 registered voters in Bissone, of which 314 or 60.7% voted. 3 blank ballots were cast, leaving 311 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....

 which received 83 or 26.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the SSI (with 56 or 18.0%), the PS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (with 54 or 17.4%) and the PPD
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

+GenGiova (with 48 or 15.4%).

In the Consiglio di Stato election, 2 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 311 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 82 or 26.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 58 or 18.6%), the LEGA (with 55 or 17.7%) and the SSI (with 53 or 17.0%).

Economy

, Bissone had an unemployment rate of 3.89%. , there were 3 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 57 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 5 businesses in this sector. 198 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 37 businesses in this sector. There were 347 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.2% of the workforce.

, there were 202 workers who commuted into the municipality and 277 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 22.8% of the workforce coming into Bissone are coming from outside Switzerland, while 7.6% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 8.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 69.5% used a private car. , there were 3 hotels in Bissone with a total of 146 rooms and 260 beds.

Religion

From the , 546 or 76.8% were Roman Catholic, while 71 or 10.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

. There are 64 individuals (or about 9.00% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 30 individuals (or about 4.22% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Bissone about 76.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

).

In Bissone there were a total of 79 students . The Ticino education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...

 provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 and in Bissone there were 14 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 25 students attended the standard primary schools and 1 student attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two year middle school followed by a two year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four year program to prepare for higher education. There were 16 students in the two year middle school, while 13 students were in the four year advanced program.

The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 4 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 6 who attend part-time.

, there were 1 students in Bissone who came from another municipality, while 65 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

People

  • Francesco Borromini
    Francesco Borromini
    Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...

     (1599–1667), architect
  • Caterina Valente
    Caterina Valente
    Caterina Valente is a singer, dancer, and actress. She was born into an Italian artist family; her father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player, her mother, Maria Valente, a musical clown...

    , singer, dancer, and actress
  • Stefano Maderno
    Stefano Maderno
    Stefano Maderno was an Italian sculptor.-Biography:News about Maderno's life are scarce and often contradictory...

    , sculptor
  • Gaggini, family of sculptors
  • Francesco Somaini
    Francesco Somaini
    Francesco Somaini was an Italian sculptor.-Biography:-1946-1957 - Artistic formation:...

    , sculptor
  • Carpoforo Tencalla
    Carpoforo Tencalla
    Carpoforo Tencalla Carpoforo Tencalla Carpoforo Tencalla (or Tencala (10 September 1623 - 9 March 1685) was an influential Swiss-Italian Baroque painter of canvases and frescoes. He is little studied and has come only recently to the attention of art critics...

    , painter
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