Lugano (Lombard: Lügan) is a city of 55,060 inhabitants (as of December 2009[update]) in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy. The city lies on Lake Lugano, and its warm summers and the fact that in recent years it has attracted an ever growing number of celebrities, entertainers and successful athletes have given it the nickname of the "Monte Carlo of Switzerland". It is the 9th largest 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"
History
The shores of Lake Lugano have been inhabited since the Stone Age. Within the modern city limits (Breganzona, Castagnola, Davesco and Gandria) a number of ground stones or quern-stones have been found. In the area surrounding Lugano, items from the Copper Age and the Iron Age have been found. There are Etruscan monuments at Davesco-Soragno (5th to 2nd Century BC), Pregassona (3rd to 2nd Century BC), and Viganello (3rd to 2nd Century BC). Graves with jewelry and household items have been found in Aldesago, Davesco, Pazzallo and Pregassona along with celtic money in Viganello.
The region around Lake Lugano was settled by the Romans by the 1st Century BC. There was an important Roman city north of Lugano at Bioggio. There are fewer traces of the Romans in Lugano, but several inscriptions, graves and coins indicate that some Romans lived in what would become Lugano.
Foundation of Lugano
The first written mention of a settlement at Lugano can be found in documents, which are of disputed authenticity, with which the Longobard king, Liutprand, ceded various assets located in Lugano to the Church of Saint Carpophorus in Como in 724. Other documents, dating from 804 and 844 refer to Lake Lugano as Laco Luanasco, and an act of 984 indicates Lugano as a market town. In 874 the town was referred to as Luano, and in 1189 it became known by its present name. The town coat of arms also dates to around this time. The four letters on the coat of arms are an abbreviation of Lugano according to documents from 18 October 1208 and 14 November 1209[7]. This city was also known in the German-speaking cantons as Lowens, Lauis and Lauwis.
During the fighting between Guelphs and Ghibellines and the new disputes between Como and Milan, during the 14th and 15 Century, Lugano was the scene of clashes between opposing forces. After a long rule by the Rusca family, Lugano was freed from the domination of Como, which had been taken over in 1335 by the Visconti. At the same time the link between town and the valley strengthened. By 1405-06 documents attest to a vallis comunitas Lugani et, which was a governing body that was independent of Como. The new community included the parishs of Lugano, Agno, Riva San Vitale and Capriasca. In 1416 the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti conquered the region of Lugano and the Rusca valley and made it a fief. A year later, Lugano's freedoms were first documented in a series of statutes modeled on those of Como. The town was able to secure complete independence.
Between 1433 and 1438 the Duke of Milan, Aloisio Sanseverino sat as a feudal lord over Lugano. He compensated the Rusca family with the ownership of Locarno. Under the reign of his heirs in the following decades rebellions and riots broke out, which lasted until the French invasion of 1499.
It was the object of continuous disputes between the Dukes of Como and Milan until it became a Swiss dominion in 1513. Swiss control lasted until 1798 when Napoleon conquered the Old Swiss Confederation and created the Helvetic Republic. Under the Helvetic Republic, Lugano became the center of the Canton of Lugano.