Lugano impression
During a stay in Milan, we decided to have a small city trip in order to set foot on Swiss soil for the first time by using the comfortable train that leads to Lugano. The station is located on the hills overlooking the city center.
Next to the train station stands the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. The architecture style of the church is Baroque with an eye-catching Romanesque bell tower with a green dome. On the opposite of the train station, the Swiss mountains enclose the Lake Lugano, also known as Ceresio.
The name Ceresio has an unclear etymology. It could come from “cerasa” that is cherry or from an ancient Roman name that means “bluer than the sky”. Other opinions trace the origin to a Celtic name that means “branched”, just like the shape of the lake.
To go down to the lake banks, you can use the narrow streets of the historic center or the 206 meter long funicular. This is a historic funicular, inaugurated in 1886 and modernized recently.
Lugano historical center
Lugano is the largest Italian-speaking city outside the borders of Italy and the city shows a clear pleasure in showing off wealth and elegance. The center winds around Piazza della Riforma which is like a “city lounge”.
The toponymy refers to the constitutional reform of the canton Ticino, freely chosen by the citizens in 1830. It is an extremely liberal constitution for the time, which sanctioned some rights including the direct election of the Grand Council (the cantonal parliament), the freedom of the press and the obligation of the canton to undertake public education.
In the historical center, there are squares, clean streets and numerous shops, especially for watches. Watch shops have flashy signs that often show wrist or pocket watches. On one side of Piazza della Riforma facing the lake, there are some large chessboards drawn on the floor and groups of local people challenge each other in the game of chess.
Written by Enrico, Translated by Hua and Photo from Hua
São Paulo in Brasil has 7 milion of italian speaking citizens…
Dear João, thank you for your comment. We understand your point. Our meaning is that São Paulo is a Portuguese-speaking city as its official language is Portuguese. Instead, Lugano is an Italian-speaking city because its official language is Italian.
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