Lugano is a city in south-east Switzerland, in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy. The city clearly has an Italian character.

The origin of the name is most likely the Latin word Lucus meaning wood or sacred wood.

Geography

Lugano lies at the Lake of Lugano (Italian: Lago di Lugano), which is situated between the lakes Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como. The city is located where the river Cassarate enters the lake between the San Salvatore (925m) and the Brè (912m) mountains.

Demographics

Since the merging of Lugano with some surrounding municipalities (Breganzona , Cureggia , Davesco-Soragno , Gandria, Pambio-Noranco , Pazzallo , Pregassona , and Viganello ) in 2004 the city has a population of 52,000 (the whole agglomeration has a population of around 90,000). This is the second major expansion after the merging in 1972 with the municipalities of Brè-Aldesago and Castagnola .

The population is Italian speaking and mainly Roman Catholic.

Another Prokudin-Gorskii photograph of Lugano ca. 1905-10.

Sights

• St. Lawrence Cathedral (IX and XV Century)
• St. Mary of the Angels Church (XVI Century) with the famous fresco of the Christ's Passion from Bernardino Luini

Museums

• Modern Art Museum (Museo d'Arte Moderna) official site
• Museum of Extraeuropean Cultures (Museo delle culture extraeuropee)
• Cantonal Art Museum (Museo cantonale d'arte) 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) 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) official site

Education and research

• Università della Svizzera Italiana : Lugano is the home of the faculties of 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.

Airport

• Lugano Airport

Sports

• Ice hockey: the Hockey Club Lugano (HCL) plays in the Switzerland National League. They play at the Resega and won six national titles partecipated twice in the European Cup final round and once in the top four final in Euroleague. It reached twice the third place in the IIHF Continental Cup Superfinal.

• Soccer: The Associazione Calcio Lugano (AC Lugano) plays in the Swiss Challenge League. They play at the Cornaredo stadium. The former Football Club Lugano won the Swiss title in 1938, 1941 and 1949 and the Swiss Cup in 1931, 1968 and 1993.

External links

• City of Lugano, the official site.
• Lugano Tourism, the official site.