Bruzella was a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the district of
Mendrisio
Mendrisio (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura di Mendris ...
in the
canton of Ticino
Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...
in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella,
Cabbio,
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 ...
,
Morbio Superiore
Morbio Superiore was a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland in the hills above Chiasso. It is located in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio. On 25 October 2009 the m ...
,
Muggio 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, M ...
merged into the municipality of
Breggia.
History
Bruzella is first mentioned in 852 as ''Brusella''.
[ Until 1609 it was united territorially with Monte and until 1649 it was part of the ]parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of Caneggio. The Church of S. Siro is first mentioned in 1579. It was rebuilt in the 18th century, and restored in 1973.
Traditionally, cheese production and forestry (production of timber and charcoal) were the main economic sources. This was supplemented by periodic waves of emigration. By 1985, agriculture only employed six people. At the beginning of the 21st century, the population was largely made of retirees and commuters.[
]
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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
is ''Quartered: 1st Argent two pales azure, 2nd Gules a cross argent, 3rd Gules an oak branch with an acorn or in bend and 4th Bendy of six argent and azure.''
Geography
Bruzella has an area, , of . Of this area, or 10.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 87.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 1.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.9% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.2%. Out of the forested land, 83.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.6% is used for growing crops.
The village is located in the Mendrisio district on a terrace along the left side of the ''Valle di Muggio''
Demographics
Bruzella has a population () of 185.
In there was 1 live birth to Swiss citizens and 1 death of a Swiss citizen. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens remained the same while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 0 and the non-Swiss population change was a decrease of 4 people. This represents a population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...
of -2.2%.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Superweb database – Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
Retrieved 19 June 2010
Of the Swiss national languages (), 13 speak German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, 2 people speak French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
, 164 people speak Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
. The remainder (4 people) speak another language.[Popolazione residente, secondo la lingua principale e la religione, nel 2000]
Retrieved 23 November 2010
Notable people
* Giovanni Pietro Magni (1655 – 1722 or 1724) a German stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
ist born in Bruzella. He decorated many buildings across central Germany in the late 1600s and early 1700s, particularly under the patronage of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
Historic population
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 37.66% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (26.13%), the SP (24.67%) and the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
(5.69%). In the federal election, a total of 89 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 is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
was 57.8%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, ''Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton''
Retrieved 28 May 2010
In the '' Gran Consiglio'' election, there were a total of 155 registered voters in Bruzella, of which 120 or 77.4% voted. 2 blank ballots were cast, leaving 118 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 51 or 43.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD+GenGiova (with 21 or 17.8%), the PS (with 20 or 16.9%) and the SSI (with 17 or 14.4%).[ Elezioni cantonali: Gran Consiglio, Consiglio di Stato]
Retrieved 23 November 2010
In the ''Consiglio di Stato'' election, 3 blank ballots were cast, leaving 117 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 47 or 40.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD (with 23 or 19.7%), the PS (with 21 or 17.9%) and the SSI (with 17 or 14.5%).[
]
Education
, there were 29 students from Bruzella who attended schools outside the village.[
]
Economy
There were 88 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 38.6% of the workforce.
, there were 79 workers who commuted away from the village.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb]
Retrieved 24 June 2010
Religion
From the , 152 or 83.1% were Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, while 10 or 5.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...
. There are 20 individuals (or about 10.93% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 1 individuals (or about 0.55% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Housing
there were 71 single-family homes (or 80.7% of the total) out of a total of 88 inhabited buildings. There were 15 multi-family buildings (17.0%), along with multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (0.0%) and 2 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.3%). Of the single-family homes 3 were built before 1919, while 2 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single-family homes (42) were built between 1919 and 1945.[Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungen]
Retrieved 28 January 2011 there were 106 apartments in the village. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 35. There were 2 single room apartments and 44 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 74 apartments (69.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 29 apartments (27.4%) were seasonally occupied and 3 apartments (2.8%) were empty.[
]
Weather
Bruzella has an average of 104.4 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 from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
. The wettest month is May during which time Bruzella receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.1 days. The driest month of the year is December with an average of of precipitation over 5.8 days.[, the weather station elevation is 620 meters above sea level.]
References
{{Authority control
Former municipalities of Ticino