Chiasso

History

Chiasso is first mentioned in 1140 as Claso. Today, a large part of the town is devoted to Chiasso's international railway station and related customs (though some of the border-control responsibilities have been moved to Como, in Italy). There is also a sizeable customs area for traffic passing by road and motorway (both commercial and non-commercial vehicles). Chiasso offers also a lot of customs-related services. A considerable source of revenue for the town is Italians crossing the border to buy certain goods more cheaply in Switzerland, particularly cigarettes and petrol. It is also a banking centre for Italian clients wishing to keep money within the Swiss banking system. Starting in 1950, Chiasso became an important financial centre and the economic centre of the Mendrisio region; hence rapid population growth. Since the 1980s, however, population and jobs, especially in the service sector, have shifted into neighbouring communities. From 2001 to 2005, a new pedestrian zone was created, stretching from the customs area to the municipal building. An enlargement of this zone was proposed by the local administration and put to a public referendum on 24 September 2006. Pedrinate was first mentioned in 1291 as Pedrenate, but Roman ruins near the village church indicate a much longer history. It was mentioned in 1335 as part of the village cooperative of Seseglio. The village church of S. Stefano is first mentioned in 1545 and was part of the Balerna parish until the 17th century. Pedrinate municipality was aggregated in the Chiasso municipality in 1975, along with Seseglio. It is located above Chiasso, on the Penz hill. Pedrinate is the most southern village in Switzerland. Around Pedrinate there are some vineyards. Seseglio is on the northern boundary of…

Geography

Chiasso has an area, , of . Of this area, or 30.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 49.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 36.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.8% is unproductive land. Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 1.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 14.4%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.7%. Of the forested land, 47.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 7.9% is used for growing crops, 4.3% is used for orchards or vine crops, and 18.4% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is in the Mendrisio district, on the Italian border. Since Pedrinate merged into Chiasso in 1976, it has been the most southerly municipality in Switzerland.

Most-observed species

• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,520
• Butterfly-bush

  Buddleja davidii Franch. · Magnoliopsida
  1,520
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,288
• American Pokeweed

  Phytolacca americana L. · Magnoliopsida
  1,287
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,254
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,248
• Danthonia ×breviaristata (Beck) Vierh.

  Danthonia ×breviaristata (Beck) Vierh. · Liliopsida
  1,216
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,172

Most recent

• M 3 — 2025-10-03
  1 km SE of Montescano, Italy
• M 4.5 — 2021-12-18
  1 km WNW of Dalmine, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2020-12-17
  0 km SW of Opera, Italy
• M 3 — 2015-11-28
  1 km ESE of Aviatico, Italy
• M 3.3 — 2010-05-11
  1 km WNW of Albino, Italy
• M 2.6 — 2008-11-10
  3 km ESE of Borgonovo Valtidone, Italy