1. History

2. Geography

3. Coat of arms

4. Demographics

5. Heritage sites of national significance

6. Politics

7. Economy

8. Religion

9. Education

10. Transport

11. References

Mezzovico-Vira is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

History

A recently discovered stele with inscriptions in northern Etruscan suggests that the area around Mezzovico-Vira was already settled in the pre-Roman era. An archaeological investigation under the parish church of S. Abbondio in 1990, discovered Roman urn graves. The church developed from a small wooden church in the 6th century to the current baroque building.

In the Early Middle Ages it was a curtis, consisting of the villa (Vira), the vicus in the middle (Mezzovico) and the settlement of Sigirino. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the valley community of Carvina, which included the villages of the upper north end of Vedeggio. The modern municipality of Mezzovico-Vira is first mentioned in 1335 as Medio Vico and Vira.^[1]

The political and religious center of the valley was Bironico. Mezzovico and Vira were always one municipality, but separated religiously when the Church of San Antonio in Vira became a parish church in 1838. The parish church of Mezzovico, S. Mamete goes back to a Roman era building which was expanded in the 12th, 15th and 16th centuries.

Traditional agriculture in the village was based mainly on the use of mountain pastures. In the last decades of the 20th century; the motorway, the main road and the railway along with a number of buildings for industry and commerce were built in along the valley floor. This development is due to the growth of the agglomeration of Lugano, which spread into the Vedeggio valley, as well as the proximity to the motorway and the Swiss Federal Railways station at Rivera.

Geography

Mezzovico-Vira has an area, {{as of|1997|lc=on}}, of {{convert|10.21|km2|sqmi|sp=us}}. Of this area, {{convert|0.6|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} or 5.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while {{convert|6.69|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} or 65.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, {{convert|0.85|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} or 8.3% is settled (buildings or roads), {{convert|0.13|km2|acre|abbr=on}} or 1.3% is either rivers or lakes and {{convert|1.44|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} or 14.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, 53.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.2% is used for growing crops and 2.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 12.5% is unproductive vegetation and 1.6% is too rocky for vegetation.^[1]

The municipality is located in the Lugano district. It consists of two settlements along the old road to Monte Ceneri.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale argent a hemp plant vert fruited(?) or and azure a crozieror issuant from base behind an escutcheon argent a cross gules. The hemp ({{lang-it|canapa}}) refers to the family Canepa, while the cross and shield are from the bishop Enrico Silvio (1556–1612).^[2]

Demographics

Mezzovico-Vira has a population ({{as of|{{Swiss populations YM|CH-TI}}|lc=on}}) of {{Swiss populations|CH-TI|5199}}.{{Swiss populations ref|CH-TI}} {{as of|2008}}, 12.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.^[3] Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 19%.

Most of the population ({{as of|2000|lc=on}}) speaks Italian (87.0%), with German being second most common (7.8%) and French being third (1.9%).^[4] Of the Swiss national languages ({{as of|2000|lc=on}}), 73 speak German, 18 people speak French, 816 people speak Italian. The remainder (31 people) speak another language.^[5]

In {{as of|2008|alt=2008}} there were 9 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 2 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 18 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 2 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.8%.^[3]

The age distribution, {{as of|2009|lc=on}}, in Mezzovico-Vira is; 133 children or 11.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 128 teenagers or 11.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 104 people or 9.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 174 people or 15.0% are between 30 and 39, 230 people or 19.8% are between 40 and 49, and 143 people or 12.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 107 people or 9.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 83 people or 7.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 57 people or 4.9% who are over 80.^[6]

The vacancy rate for the municipality, {{as of|2008|alt=in 2008}}, was 0.57%. {{as of|2000|alt=In 2000}} there were 466 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 142. There were 31 single room apartments and 137 apartments with five or more rooms.^[8] Of these apartments, a total of 365 apartments (78.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 95 apartments (20.4%) were seasonally occupied and 6 apartments (1.3%) were empty.^[8] {{as of|2007}}, the construction rate of new housing units was 4.6 new units per 1000 residents.^[4]

The historical population is given in the following chart:^[9][10]

  id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)  id:darkgrey  value:gray(0.8)

  color:yellowgreen width:40   mark:(line,white) align:center  bar:1591 from:start till:775 text:"775"  bar:1801 from:start till:345 text:"345"  bar:1850 from:start till:465 text:"465"  bar:1860 from:start till:460 text:"460"  bar:1870 from:start till:443 text:"443"  bar:1880 from:start till:531 text:"531"  bar:1890 from:start till:447 text:"447"  bar:1900 from:start till:467 text:"467"  bar:1910 from:start till:467 text:"467"  bar:1920 from:start till:501 text:"501"  bar:1930 from:start till:462 text:"462"  bar:1941 from:start till:458 text:"458"  bar:1950 from:start till:493 text:"493"  bar:1960 from:start till:463 text:"463"  bar:1970 from:start till:526 text:"526"  bar:1980 from:start till:575 text:"575"  bar:1990 from:start till:828 text:"828"  bar:2000 from:start till:938 text:"938"

Heritage sites of national significance

The Church of S. Mamete and Oratory of S. Ambrogio are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.^[11]

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 37.64% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Ticino League (18.48%), the FDP (18.39%) and the SP (12.91%). In the federal election, a total of 419 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 57.0%.^[12]

In the {{as of|2007|alt=2007}} Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 733 registered voters in Mezzovico-Vira, of which 551 or 75.2% voted. 9 blank ballots were cast, leaving 542 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD+GenGiova which received 166 or 30.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the SSI (with 105 or 19.4%), the LEGA (with 99 or 18.3%) and the PLRT (with 97 or 17.9%).^[13]

In the {{as of|2007|alt=2007}} Consiglio di Stato election, 7 blank ballots were cast, leaving 544 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD which received 148 or 27.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 140 or 25.7%), the PLRT (with 92 or 16.9%) and the SSI (with 81 or 14.9%).^[13]

Economy

Religion

From the {{as of|2000|alt=2000 census}}, 800 or 85.3% were Roman Catholic, while 64 or 6.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 51 individuals (or about 5.44% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 23 individuals (or about 2.45% of the population) did not answer the question.^[5]

Education

In Mezzovico-Vira about 74.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).^[4]

In Mezzovico-Vira there were a total of 225 students ({{as of|2009|lc=on}}). The Ticino education system provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten and in Mezzovico-Vira there were 42 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 76 students attended the standard primary schools and 4 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 54 students in the two-year middle school and 1 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 13 students were in the four-year advanced program.

The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student).^[15] There were 10 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 23 who attend part-time.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 2 students in the professional program.^[16]

Transport

Mezzovico-Vira is served by the Mezzovico station, on the Gotthard railway.

References

• Coq Roq
• Coq Rouge
• Coquainvilliers
• Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse
• Coquerel
• Coquet Island
• Coquette
• Coquette (film)
• Coqui
• Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park
• Coquihalla Highway
• Coquilhatville
• Coquille
• Coquille, OR
• Coquille, Oregon
• Coquille people
• Coquille River (Oregon)
• Coquille Tribe of Oregon
• Coquimbo
• Coquimbo Region
• Coquimbo (region)
• Coquimbo Region of Chile
• Coquina
• Coquitlam
• Coquitlam City Council