Lugano

Infobox Swiss town
subject_name = Lugano
municipality_name = Lugano
municipality_type = city
imagepath_coa = Lugano-coat of arms.svg|pixel_coa=

---

languages = Italian
canton = Ticino
iso-code-region = CH-TI
district = Lugano
lat_d=46|lat_m=00|lat_NS=N|long_d=8|long_m=57|long_EW=E
postal_code = 6900
municipality_code = 5192
area = 48
elevation = 273|elevation_description=
population = 52993|populationof=2007
website = www.lugano.ch
mayor = Giorgio Giudici|mayor_asof=2008|mayor_party=PLR
mayor_title = Sindaco|list_of_mayors = List of mayors of Lugano
places = Brè, Aldesago, Breganzona, Castagnola, Cureggia, Davesco, Soragno, Gandria, Pambio, Noranco, Pazzallo, Pregassona, Viganello, Albonago
demonym =
neighboring_municipalities= Arogno, Bioggio, Cadro, Campione d'Italia (IT-CO), Canobbio, Carabbia, Carona, Collina d'Oro, Grancia, Lanzo d'Intelvi (IT-CO), Massagno, Melide, Muzzano, Paradiso, Porza, Savosa, Sorengo, Valsolda (IT-CO), Vezia
twintowns = |

Lugano (Latin language: "Luganum") is a town (52,993 inhabitants, a total of 130,000 people in the agglomeration) in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy. The city's warm summers, and the fact that in recent years it has attracted an ever growing number of celebrities, entertainers and successful sports people has given it the nickname of the "Monte Carlo of Switzerland" Fact|date=February 2008.It is the 9th biggest city of Switzerland by population.

The origin of the name is possibly the Latin word "Lucus", meaning wood or sacred wood, or Gaulish "locovanno" "lake dweller" [ [http://www.lugano.ch/en/citta/welcome.cfm?catID=01001001 origin of name] ] .

Geography

Lugano lies at the edge of Lake Lugano (Italian: "Lago di Lugano" or "Ceresio"), which is situated between the lakes Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como, south of the Alps.

The city is located where the river Cassarate enters the lake between the Brè (925m) and the San Salvatore (912m) mountains.

Demographics

Since its union with some surrounding municipalities (Breganzona, Cureggia, Davesco-Sorengo, Gandria, Pambio-Noranco, Pazzallo, Pregassona, and Viganello) in 2004, Lugano has a population of just over 52,000, Ticino's largest city, yet not it's Cantonal capital. [ [http://www.lugano.ch/en/citta/welcome.cfm?catID=01001002 population] ] . This was the second major expansion after the union in 1972 with the municipalities of Brè-Aldesago and Castagnola. The town's thriving economy provides a large number of jobs an estimated 50,000 positions, over a third of which are occupied by cross-border commuters from neighbouring Italy. A large proportion of the jobs are in the tourism sector, whilst the city is Switzerland's 3rd largest banking centre (mainly handling Italian-speaking clients), after Zurich and Geneva [ [http://www.lugano-tourism.ch/framework/DesktopDefault.aspx?menu_id=1481&ssm=1 third swiss financial market] see "The figures of the new Lugano" section] . The population is Italian-speaking and mainly Roman Catholic.

Politics

See list of mayors of Lugano.

Tourism

ights

*Lake Lugano
*Pedal boats
*St. Lawrence Cathedral (9th and 15th century)
*St. Mary of the Angels Church (16th century) with the fresco of the Christ's Passion from Bernardino Luini
*Parco civico - Villa Ciani
*Monte San Salvatore
*Monte Brè
*Monte Generoso
*Piazza della Riforma
*Villa Favorita
*Nearby cities of Bellinzona, Locarno, Como and Milan

Museums

* Art Museum ("Museo d'Arte) [http://www.mdam.ch official site]
* Museum of Extra-European Cultures ("Museo delle culture extraeuropee") [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Via+Cortivo+24+6976+lugano,+switzerland&sll=46.000826,8.983388&sspn=0.009867,0.019956&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1 Via Cortivo 24 6976 Lugano, Switzerland]
* Cantonal Art Museum ("Museo cantonale d'arte") [http://www.museo-cantonale-arte.ch official site]
* Foundation Aligi Sassu and Helenita Olivares ("Fondazione Aligi Sassu e Helenita Olivares")
* Historical Museum ("Museo storico")
* Cantonal Museum on Natural History ("Museo cantonale di storia naturale") [http://www.ti.ch/DT/DA/MUSEO official site]
* Swiss Custom Museum ("Museo doganale svizzero")
* Municipal Art Museum ("Museo civico di belle arti")
* Wilhelm Schmid Museum ("Museo Wilhelm Schmid")
* Gottardo Gallery ("Galleria Gottardo") [http://www.galleria-gottardo.org official site]
* Hermann Hesse Museum ("Fondazione Hermann Hesse") [http://www.hessemontagnola.ch official site]

Education and research

*Università della Svizzera italiana: Lugano is the home of the faculties of informatics, economics, and communication sciences.
*Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence: a non-profit oriented research institute for artificial intelligence, affiliated with both the Università della Svizzera Italiana and SUPSI.
*Franklin College Switzerland: an internationally accredited college.
*The American School In Switzerland: an international secondary school.
*SUPSI: University of Applied Science of Southern Switzerland.
*CSIA, (Centro scolastico per le industrie artistiche): A school after secondary education for studying art and design.

Transportation

There are many ways to get around in Lugano.

"By Bus" - The yellow 'Post' buses, (Autopostale), The inner city TPL buses, (Trasporti pubblici luganesi), The ARL buses, (Autolinee regionali luganesi).

"By Railway" - The FFS (Swiss Federal Railways), The FLP (Lugano-Ponte Tresa Railway). "By Plane" - Lugano Airport (Agno).

"By Boat" - The Municipal Ports, SNLL, Rental Boats.

"By Funicolar" - Lugano center Funicular, Mount Generoso Railway, SA Cassarate - Mount Brè Funicular, San Salvatore Funicular.

And you can always go by taxi and/or by car.

Culture

The Palazzo dei Congressi is the performing arts center for Lugano. It is a main hall for the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.

The Lugano Festival runs during April and May, followed by the related "Progetto Martha Argerich" in June. Estival Jazz arrives in July. The Blues-to-Bop Festival in late August and early September turns the city into a hive of activity as thousands crowd the streets and piazzas for free open-air concerts.

In 1956 Lugano hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest [ [http://www.eurovision.tv/content/view/249/153/ eurovision contest] ] .

ports

*Ice hockey: Hockey Club Lugano (HCL) plays in the Switzerland National League. They play at the "Resega" arena and have won seven national titles, having participated twice in the European Cup final roundand once in the top four final in Euroleague. In 1991, Lugano reached the final of the famous Spengler Cup and twice reached third place in the IIHF Continental Cup Superfinal [ [http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/club-events/continental-cup-since-1997.html Hockey Club Lugano Continental cup partecipation] ] .

* Football: AC Lugano plays in the Swiss Challenge League. They play at the "Cornaredo" stadium and are successors to "FC Lugano" who won the Swiss title in 1938, 1941 and 1949 and the Swiss Cup in 1931, 1968 and 1993 before going bankrupt in 2002.

* Basketball: BC Lugano Tigers (former Basket Club Lugano) plays in the Swiss National League A (LNA). They play at the "Elvetico" gym, won the Swiss Cup in 2001 and have been Swiss LNA Champions in 2000, 2001 and 2006.

References

External links

* [http://www.lugano.ch/welcome.cfm?language=en Official website]
* [http://www.lugano-tourism.ch/en/32/default.aspx Lugano Tourism]
*wikitravel
* [http://www.montebre.com Monte Brè]
* [http://www.lakelugano.ch Lake Lugano Navigation Company] it icon
* [http://www.pompierilugano.ch Lugano fire brigade] it icon