Morbio Superiore was a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
of
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in the hills above
Chiasso
Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of C ...
. It is located in the district of
Mendrisio
Mendrisio (; lmo, label= Ticinese, Mendris ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian-speaking Switzerland (U ...
. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of
Bruzella
Bruzella was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio and Sagno merged into the municipality of Breggia.
...
,
Cabbio
Cabbio was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio, Sagno and Breggia merged into the municipality of Breg ...
,
Caneggio
Caneggio is a former municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio, and Sagno merged into the municipality of Br ...
, Morbio Superiore,
Muggio
Muggio was a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio and Sagno merged into the municipality of Breggia.
His ...
and
Sagno
Sagno is a former municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland; it is now part of the new municipality of Breggia.
On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Mugg ...
merged into the municipality of
Breggia
Breggia is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio and Sagno merged into the municipality of Breggia.
...
.
History
Morbio Superiore is first mentioned in 1116 as ''Morbio de Supra''.
[ In the ]Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
(first mentioned in 1299) the village was owned by Como Cathedral
Como Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta; ''Duomo di Como'') is the Catholic cathedral of the city of Como, Lombardy, Italy, and the seat of the Bishop of Como. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
History
...
and the Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery of S. Abbondio in Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and ...
. The church of S. Vittore in Balerna also owned property in the village. From 1591 until the 17th century, Morbio and Sagno were a vice parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
under the mother church
Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metro ...
at Balerna. In 1802 Morbio Superiore was a separate parish.[
The ]parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of S. Giovanni Evangelista was first mentioned in 1227. In the 18th century it was totally rebuilt and then renovated in 1957. The chapel of San Martino, originally an Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
romanesque building stands on the site of what might be an Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
watchtower from the 6th century. The Chapel of S. Anna is from the late Baroque period
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
.[
Formerly, the village was surrounded by vineyards, tobacco and mulberry cultivation, of which only the vineyards remain. In the last decades of the 20th century, Morbio Superiore developed into a residential community. Since 1960, Lattecaldo has been the headquarters of the Cantonal Forestry School. In 2000, four-fifths of the workforce worked outside the community.][
]
Geography
Morbio Superiore has an area, , of . Of this area, or 18.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 69.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 12.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.7% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 10.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 66.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.8% is used for growing crops, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops and 10.2% is used for alpine pastures.
The village is located in the Mendrisio district, at the entrance to the Muggio valley on the left side of the valley. It consists of the village of Morbio Superiore and the hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of Lattecaldo.
Coat of arms
The blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
is ''Gules two bars embowed in base and chause vert.'' The bars represent the small antique bridge and the new big one.
Demographics
Morbio Superiore has a population () of 705.
Most of the population () speaks (%), with being second most common (%) and being third (%).[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 31-January-2011 Of the Swiss national languages (), 50 speak German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, 6 people speak French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, 632 people speak Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
. The remainder (12 people) speak another language.[Popolazione residente, secondo la lingua principale e la religione, nel 2000]
accessed 23 November 2010
In there was 1 live birth to Swiss citizens and were 2 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 1 non-Swiss woman who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 9 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 6 people. This represents a population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
of -0.4%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
accessed 19 June 2010
there were 175 single family homes (or 77.1% of the total) out of a total of 227 inhabited buildings. There were 44 multi-family buildings (19.4%), along with 1 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (0.4%) and 7 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.1%). Of the single family homes 4 were built before 1919, while 19 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (44) were built between 1919 and 1945.[Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
there were 297 apartments in the village. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 84. There were 9 single room apartments and 133 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 269 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 26 apartments (8.8%) were seasonally occupied and 2 apartments (0.7%) were empty.[
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Colors=
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id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
ImageSize = width:1140 height:210
PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100
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DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:700
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
AlignBars = justify
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ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0
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color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center
bar:1643 from:start till:233 text:"233"
bar:1696 from:start till:207 text:"207"
bar:1723 from:start till:180 text:"180"
bar:1850 from:start till:306 text:"306"
bar:1860 from:start till:325 text:"325"
bar:1870 from:start till:339 text:"339"
bar:1880 from:start till:320 text:"320"
bar:1888 from:start till:316 text:"316"
bar:1900 from:start till:303 text:"303"
bar:1910 from:start till:354 text:"354"
bar:1920 from:start till:331 text:"331"
bar:1930 from:start till:291 text:"291"
bar:1941 from:start till:304 text:"304"
bar:1950 from:start till:327 text:"327"
bar:1960 from:start till:326 text:"326"
bar:1970 from:start till:401 text:"401"
bar:1980 from:start till:538 text:"538"
bar:1990 from:start till:601 text:"601"
bar:2000 from:start till:700 text:"700"
Politics
In the 2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
the most popular party was the CVP which received 33.07% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (25.7%), the SP (20.04%) and the Ticino League
The Ticino League ( it, Lega dei Ticinesi) is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.
The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. Af ...
(11.11%). In the federal election, a total of 313 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was 60.2%.
In the '' Gran Consiglio'' election, there were a total of 525 registered voters in Morbio Superiore, of which 382 or 72.8% voted. 2 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 379 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD+GenGiova which received 106 or 28.0% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 76 or 20.1%), the PS (with 63 or 16.6%) and the SSI (with 62 or 16.4%).[ Elezioni cantonali: Gran Consiglio, Consiglio di Stato]
accessed 23 November 2010
In the ''Consiglio di Stato'' election, 3 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 378 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD which received 107 or 28.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 72 or 19.0%), the PS (with 71 or 18.8%) and the LEGA (with 70 or 18.5%).[
]
Economy
There were 322 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.3% of the workforce.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 62. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 3, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 13, of which 12 or (92.3%) were in manufacturing and 1 (7.7%) was in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 46. In the tertiary sector; 4 or 8.7% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 3 or 6.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 4 or 8.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 6.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 8 or 17.4% were in education.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3
accessed 28 January 2011
, there were 47 workers who commuted into the village and 273 workers who commuted away. The village is a net exporter of workers, with about 5.8 workers leaving the village for every one entering. About 12.8% of the workforce coming into Morbio Superiore are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.4% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010
Religion
From the , 586 or 83.7% were Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, while 35 or 5.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. There are 45 individuals (or about 6.43% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 34 individuals (or about 4.86% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Weather
Morbio Superiore has an average of 100.6 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
. The wettest month is May during which time Morbio Superiore receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 12.9 days. The driest month of the year is December with an average of of precipitation over 5.7 days.[, the weather station elevation is 440 meters above sea level.]
Education
, there were 51 students in Morbio Superiore who came from another village, while 63 residents attended schools outside the village.[
]
References
{{Authority control
Former municipalities of Ticino