Ponte Capriasca

History

Ponte Capriasca is first mentioned in 1335 as Ponte. In 1491 it was mentioned as Ponte Criviascha. Historically, it was part of bailiwick of Lugano. Under the rule of the Duchy of Milan as well as the Swiss Confederation, the village was an independent municipality with its own statutes and rights. The rights and statutes were first documented in 1443 and were confirmed in 1648. Early in the 16th century, the village was involved in the fierce fighting between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In 1455, it separated from the Tesserete parish to form an independent parish. The parish church of S. Ambrogio is first mentioned in 1356 but is built on a Roman era foundation. Its present form dates from a rebuilding of 1835, in which the old bell tower and the nave were incorporated. The Last Supper in the interior dates from the 16th century and was modeled on Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. The painting was restored in 1951 and again in 1989–92. The local economy of the village was based on agriculture and the income from the seasonal migration, especially to northern Italy. From the 1970s the village experienced a building boom and its population increased fivefold. In 2005 slightly over half of the jobs are in the service sector and over three-quarters of the population are commuters.

Geography

Ponte Capriasca has an area, , of . Of this area, or 8.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 64.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 8.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 13.1% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 44.5% of the total land area is heavily forested, while 17.3% is covered in small trees and shrubbery and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.8% is used for growing crops and 6.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 11.0% is unproductive vegetation and 2.1% is too rocky for vegetation. The municipality is located in the Lugano district, in the Valli di Lugano Region.

Most-observed species

• Chusan Palm

  Trachycarpus fortunei (Hook.) H.Wendl. · Liliopsida
  7,971
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,344
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,262
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,571
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,558
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,275
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,209
• Eurasian Coot

  Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,164

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland
• 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 4.1 — 2017-03-06
  8 km SSE of Muotathal, Switzerland
• M 3 — 2015-11-28
  1 km ESE of Aviatico, Italy
• M 3.3 — 2010-05-11
  1 km WNW of Albino, Italy