Palagnedra

Palagnedra
Former municipality of Switzerland

Palagnedra village

Coat of arms
Palagnedra
Coordinates: 46°09′N 8°38′E / 46.150°N 8.633°E / 46.150; 8.633Coordinates: 46°09′N 8°38′E / 46.150°N 8.633°E / 46.150; 8.633
Country Switzerland
Canton Ticino
District Locarno
Area
  Total 16.38 km2 (6.32 sq mi)
Elevation 652 m (2,139 ft)
Population
  Total 119
  Density 7.3/km2 (19/sq mi)
Postal code 6657
SFOS number 5122
Surrounded by Borgnone, Brissago, Cannobio (IT-VB), Cavaglio-Spoccia (IT-VB), Cursolo-Orasso (IT-VB), Intragna, Re (IT-VB)
Website
SFSO statistics

Palagnedra is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Lago di Palagnedra is located below the village, on the Melezza river. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Borgnone, Intragna and Palagnedra merged into the municipality of Centovalli.[1]

Lago di Palagnedra

History

Interior of San Michele

Palagnedra is first mentioned in 1379 as Pallagnidrio'.[2]

During the Middle Ages, Palagnedra was the administrative and religious center in the 13th Century Centovalli valley community. In the 16th Century it became part of the Locarno and Ascona region, followed by the bailiwick of Locarno. In 1864 the village became independent.[2]

The church of San Michele was built between 1640-1732 and renovated in 1964-66 and again between 1999 and 2001. It was the mother church of the Centovalli valley and contains the best preserved late gothic cycle of frescoes by Antonio da Tradate.[2]

Traditionally the local economy was based around agriculture and grazing. Starting in the 16th Century some of the income came from the seasonal migration to Italy. Initially, most of the seasonal workers were laborers. This changed in the 19th Century to cooks going to Tuscany. Until the 1950s, the vicinity of the Italian Swiss border encouraged smuggling. In 1950-52 a hydroelectric dam was built. In 2005 about a third of the jobs in Palagnedra related to the agricultural sector.[2]

Location

The former municipality is located in the Locarno district on a terrace on the southern slope of the Centovalli. It includes various districts, including Bordei.[2]

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Year Population
Palagnedra[2]
1850 337
1900 267
1950 298
2000 92

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palagnedra.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.