A brief glimpse into the history of Locarno
by Bruno Keller, Locarno, 1995

Published as a guest contribution on the website www.reisefuehrer-lagomaggiore.de, 2004

The historical records of Locarno are extremely sparse and fragmentary up to the 9th century. This may be because the people in and around Locarno were, right up to the beginning of the last century, largely a rural society that stood apart from the major cultural and economic developments.

The earliest evidence of permanent settlement dates from the Stone and Bronze Ages. The finds suggest that fishing, hunting and pastoral farming were the main sources of food. After the Raetians and Lepontii, Celts and Gauls poured into the region in the 4th century BC. Finds and Ligurian-Celtic inscriptions confirm that Locarno was settled by Celtic tribes. The name Locarno must therefore derive from the Celtic Leukara, and the name Maggia from the equally Celtic Magia. Both names, Leukara, "the white", and Magia, "the great", probably referred to the then untamed and wildly rushing River Maggia, whose force carried so much gravel that within a few centuries it had built up the delta. The Leukarni were the inhabitants, the Locarnesi.

Even in Celtic times Locarno lay within the sphere of influence of the city of Como, which, as the Roman settlement of Comum, had been destroyed by the Raetians and was reconquered and rebuilt by the Romans under Caesar in 89 BC. Pliny (a native of Como) later founded a school in Como, so that the city exerted influence in cultural as well as political matters, including on Locarno.

Como retained its importance as a spiritual centre in the Christian centuries too, being, until the last century, the seat of the bishop for the whole territory of the Canton of Ticino. Alongside Como, fields in the areas of Muralto, Solduno and Stabio are mentioned in Roman times. In Muralto, excavation work repeatedly uncovers rich traces of dense Roman settlement. At that time the centre of Locarno lay in present-day Muralto, and where the church of San Vittore stands there once stood a Roman sanctuary of Bacchus. In Roman times Locarno must have had a glassmaking industry in addition to viticulture, as can be concluded from the grave finds.

Christian civilisation began even before the Roman Empire crumbled. According to some historians, including Gian Gaspare Nessi and Pastor Guglielmo Buetti, the church of San Vittore in Muralto was built from the ruins of the temple of Bacchus as early as the second half of the 4th century and served as the only church of Locarno for at least six centuries.

The grim, indeed terrifying and destructive period that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire and the crossing of the Rhine by the Germanic tribes in 406 seems to have passed Locarno by. Thanks to Christianisation in the 4th century, and to the task entrusted to the Church, first by the Romans and later also by the invading Lombards, of putting its finely woven organisation to political use, Locarno was spared the great storms of the barbarian seizure of power. Lombard fortresses in Locarno, Muralto (San Biagio) and Ascona (S. Materno and S. Michele) are documented, but these were buildings that probably only arose in the 7th century. The Lombard conquest of Lombardy, the rule of the Ostrogoths, the Eastern Roman attempt at reconquest by Byzantine armies and the renewed Lombard occupation in 569 seem not to have touched Locarno. Only after 200 years, when the Lombard kingdom was absorbed into the Frankish empire by Charlemagne - in a society that was Christianised, organised on the Roman model, cultivated and politically and organisationally supported by the Church - did Locarno come under the direct rule of Germanic, or more precisely Frankish, counts. This happened relatively peacefully, that is, without barbarity, deportations and slavery, executions, plunder and rape, as had been usual during the first incursions of Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire.

In 866 Louis II (Louis the German), grandson of Charlemagne, gave his wife Angilberta various counties, among them Stazzona (Angera) with Locarno. After Angilberta's death, Locarno passed under the sceptre of Milan.

In 1004 Henry II once again annexed Locarno to the Diocese of Como, under Archbishop Landolfo da Carcano (there was also a Carcani castle in Ascona); Carcano called upon the De Besozzo family, of Lombard origin, to take over the lordship of Locarno, though without "Dominus Loci", that is, without a transfer of ownership of Locarno.

Characteristic of the constant changes of ruler over Locarno are the power struggles between the "Guelfi" (supporters of secular power) and the "Ghibellini" (supporters of ecclesiastical authority), which lasted into the 16th century.

A significant turning point came for Locarno in 1021. Three noble Frankish brothers from the court of Louis fled to Lombardy because of a gallant family affair that threatened their lives. The brothers were called Aurelius, Landolf and Vivian. During their flight Aurelius and Landolf settled in Locarno, while Vivian stayed for some time in Mainz before later joining his brothers in Locarno. In everyday speech Aurelio, the elder, soon became Orello. On the ruins of the Lombard fortress, on the site of today's castle of Locarno, he built his fortress and residence: the castle of the Orelli. His brother Landolf built a castle with very high walls in what is now Muralto, close to the lake, roughly where the Hotel Beaurivage stands today. Few ruins of this castle remain and they are barely recognisable, as they were later incorporated into newer buildings. It was known as the palace of the "muri alti" (high walls), and from this came the family name Muralti. Vivian followed only later. After his residence in Mainz (Italian: Magonza), his family soon became known by the names "Magonti" and "Magoria". They built their palace on what is now the Piazza Grande; it is the "Palazzo Magoria", later rebuilt and still standing today.

In 1041 Duke Otto of Saxony stayed briefly in Bellinzona and Locarno and granted Locarno to the Frankish brothers as a fief.

In 1186 Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) granted Locarno independence from all counties, in particular that of Como, as a free city. Locarno was thus placed directly under the crown and also exempted from military service. This was a privilege of a rare kind, which certainly arose from the fact that Locarno lay off the routes of communication between Milan and the north, that is, from the areas of the Sottoceneri occupied by Como, and offered new, undisturbed routes across Lake Maggiore. At that time Locarno's political organisation developed in a surprisingly democratic way: on two political levels, with a dualistic administrative structure, on one side the Capitanei, a civic society of citizens governed by a consortium, and on the other the Orelli, Muralti and Magoria. Both groups were entitled to collect the tithe from the use of the land and to an appropriately distributed number of seats on the council. The Capitanei, that is the burghers, held the offices of lower officers and judges. Around this time the influence of the German rulers in Lombardy also ended, with the disintegration of the Frankish empire.

Around 1229 the second-oldest church in Locarno, San Francesco, was built, with a monastery founded by St Francis of Padua (there must also have been an older church, San Giorgio, which was destroyed by a flood in the 15th century and not rebuilt).

In 1249, after a ten-year war between Como and Milan, Locarno again fell under very strict rule by Como. In 1262 Pope Urban IV appointed Ottone Visconti Archbishop of Milan. The Locarno military commander Simone Orello (the Via Simone da Locarno bears his name today), who was in the service of Como, was arrested in Milan and languished for 12 years in a cage hung from the fortress walls of Milan.

With the opening of the Gotthard route in the 13th century, Ticino was drawn into the field of tension of the European great powers' interests.

In 1262 Locarno was in flames: the Milanese, led by Giordano Rusca da Lucino, conquered the town.

In 1276 the liberated Simone Orelli stormed Arona with a fleet of ships and once more brought the Lake Maggiore territories under the rule of Como.

In 1342 the Viscontis, rulers of Milan, conquered Locarno with land forces and a mighty fleet, including the imposing "Ganzerre", galleys with 50 oars each and crews of 500 to 600 warriors, under the leadership of Luchino and Giovanni Visconti (later Archbishop of Milan). The castle of the Orelli was taken. Locarno fell under the control of Milan, governed via the sea captain of Pallanza. Visconti had the castle enlarged and fortified. The resulting Visconti castle had several towers and was surrounded by a moat; it adjoined the outflow of the Maggia and the lake, with a harbour for ships. Some noble families of Locarno, among them several Orellis, were deported to Milan.

Uprisings by the valleys (the Vallis Madiae, Verzasca and Mergossia) are reported for the years 1403 to 1406; they were tired of paying heavy taxes to the County of Locarno. The Maggia Valley succeeded in breaking away from Locarno.

Swiss incursions into the valleys of Ticino in 1411 and 1412, and the renewed attacks of 1422, repulsed by the Viscontis at Arbedo, largely spared Locarno.

In 1439 the Viscontis appointed Count Loterio Rusca governor of Locarno, as compensation for the return of Como, which his father, Franchino, had wrested from the Viscontis in 1408. After Loterio's death his son Franchino II ruled over Locarno. We attribute to him the further extension of the castle, which under him became an impregnable fortress. Franchino's attempt to recapture Como was crushed by the Milanese. Rusca had to withdraw to the castle of Locarno and was besieged by the Milanese. His luck came through the newly appointed Count of Milan, Francesco Sforza, an old comrade-in-arms, who confirmed Rusca as Count of Locarno.

Under Pietro Rusca, the Madonna del Sasso was built in 1485, after the Virgin Mary had appeared to the monk Bartolomeo da Ivrea in 1480.

In 1502 an army of 18,000 Swiss stormed the town of Locarno but was unable to take the castle. The town was, however, plundered.

Ten years later the Swiss occupied Milan in a struggle against the French, fought at Novara and in the terrible Battle of Marignano, which they lost. From the French king Francis I, successor to Louis XII, they obtained the handover of Locarno in 1516, together with the other territories of Ticino. The rule of the Rusca ended here.

With the peace treaty of Fribourg with the French in 1516, Locarno was recognised as a Swiss possession. In 1518 the Swiss razed the castle except for a small part, which served as the seat of the bailiff and as a prison. The fortresses of Muralto, San Biagio and Sant Materno and San Michele in Ascona were also destroyed. Almost all the fortresses of Ticino suffered the same fate, with the exception of Bellinzona.

Towards the middle of the 16th century Locarno saw the founding of a lively Protestant community, but the Reformation was nipped in the bud. Reformed families, such as the Orellis and the Muralti, 150 citizens in all, were forced to emigrate and fled to Zurich in 1555. This is why families named Orelli, von Orelli, Muralt, Muralti, von Muralt and de Muralt, some of them illustrious figures, can still be found in German- and French-speaking Switzerland today. Administration by the bailiffs lasted until 1798.

The French Revolution was followed by the occupation of Lombardy by the French armies. The Cisalpine Republic was proclaimed. Southern Switzerland was in turmoil (the Movimento Liberi e Svizzeri), and in the same year, 1798, a provisional Ticino government was formed. After an initial solution with two cantons, Bellinzona and Lugano, Napoleon granted Ticino the status of an independent canton in 1803 with the Act of Mediation, as a permanent part of the Swiss Confederation. Until 1881 Locarno also served as cantonal capital, alternating with Lugano and Bellinzona.

Sources:

- Monumenti d'Arte e di Storia della Svizzera, Canton Ticino I, V. Gilardoni;
- Memorie Storiche di Locarno, G.G. Nessi;
- Note Storiche Religiose, G. Buetti;
- Ticino Medievale, Vismara-Cavanna-Vismara;
- Tessiner Reiseführer, ETT;
- Polyglott Reiseführer Tessin;
- Die Geburt Europas, G. Simons;
- Kleine Geschichte des Kantons Tessin, E. Merz.

Buildings

- Castle (Castello Visconti), 15th-century courtyard (Giovanni Rusca). Fresco in the style of Luini (Bernardino Luini, 1481-1532) in the stairwell, carved wooden ceilings; today a museum: archaeological finds from Roman times (including the glass collection); also remnants of Romanesque sculptures from San Vittore. Hans Arp collection.
- Church of San Francesco, choir and dome 14th century. Nave from 1528, façade 1538. Next to it the former Franciscan monastery (dissolved in 1848). Frescoes in the refectory (including the Last Supper) by Baldassare Orelli, 18th century. Opposite the main portal of the church, the tomb of Giovanni de Orello (d. 1352).
- Church of S. Antonio. Present building 1668-1674. In the north transept, a "Descent from the Cross" by Giovanni Antonio Orelli. In 1863 the roof collapsed, killing 45 worshippers.
- Church of Santa Maria in Selva (nave demolished in 1884). Choir and tower remains of the church consecrated in 1425. Important late medieval frescoes.
- Casa del Negromante. Furnishings from around 1500 and the early 16th century. It was a meeting place of the noble citizens in the 16th century.
- Chiesa Nuova, consecrated in 1636. Baroque façade with a statue of St Christopher. Adjoining it the Casa dei Canonici, formerly Palazzo Orelli. Arcaded courtyard, 17th century.
- Church of San Vittore. Oldest part probably from the 4th century. Three-aisled pillar basilica. On the tower a relief of St Victor (by Martino Benzoni, 1462), which came from the castle.