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Quinto, Switzerland
Quinto () is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History A grave from the early Iron Age has been found in the valley. The modern municipality of Quinto is first mentioned in 1227. The old '' Vicinanza'', whose statutes were first written in 1408, consisted of numerous '' degagne''. They owned alpine pastures, particularly on the Alp Piora, and the rights to provide donkeys or mules for freight transport over the passes. Quinto originally belonged to the parish of Biasca, but had already separated into an independent parish before the 12th Century. The parish church of SS Peter and Paul was first mentioned in 1227, but dates from the 8th-9th Century. The original romanesque building was extended several times and completely rebuilt in 1681. The local economy was dominated by agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and dairy farming. In 1896, the first dairy cooperative opened in the village. The commissioning of the Gottha ...
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Leventina (district)
The Leventina District is one of the eight districts of the largely Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass. Situated to the north of the canton, its territory covers the area of the river Ticino as far south as Biasca, in particular the Bedretto Valley and the Leventina Valley. Leventina is divided into four sub-districts, termed ' circles' (), and a total area of with a population of (as of ). Its capital is the municipality () of Faido. The valley became part of Switzerland on 5 March 1480, following the treaty of Lucerne with the Duchy of Milan. Geography The Leventina District has an area, , of . Of this area, or 4.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 36.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 2.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.9% is either rivers or lakes and or 36.5% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housi ...
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Ritom 21
__NOTOC__ Lago Ritom is a lake in the Piora valley, Ticino, Switzerland. The natural lake is used as a reservoir by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) to generate hydro-electric power for the Gotthard line. The first dam was built in 1918 and, in 1950, its height was increased by 23 m. Overview The lake's surface area is 1.49 km² at an elevation of 1850 m. With Lake Cadagno and Lago di Tom, it is one of the main lakes in the Piora valley. Before being used as a reservoir, Lake Ritom was a meromictic lake similar to the nearby Lake Cadagno. Transport The lake can be reached by funicular from Piotta 786 m below. The track with a length of 1,369 m has a maximum inclination of 87.8%, the highest in Europe after the Gelmerbahn funicular (106%). See also *List of lakes of Switzerland *List of mountain lakes of Switzerland This is a list of high-altitude lakes of Switzerland. It includes all significant lakes located either entirely or partly in Switzerland, both nat ...
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Funicular
A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable, which is looped over a pulley at the upper end of the track. The result of such a configuration is that the two carriages move synchronously: as one ascends, the other descends at an equal speed. This feature distinguishes funiculars from inclined elevators, which have a single car that is hauled uphill. The term ''funicular'' derives from the Latin word , the diminutive of , meaning 'rope'. Operation In a funicular, both cars are permanently connected to the opposite ends of the same cable, known as a ''haul rope''; this haul rope runs through a system of pulleys at the upper end of the line. If the railway track is not perfectly straight, the cable is guided along the track using sheaves – unpowered ...
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Swiss Federal Railways
Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has been a special stock corporation whose shares are held by the Swiss Confederation and the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss cantons. It is the largest rail and transport company of Switzerland; it operates on most standard gauge lines of the Rail transport in Switzerland, Swiss railway network. It also heavily collaborates with most other transport companies of the country, such as the BLS AG, BLS, one of its main competitors, or (SOB), to provide fully integrated public transport timetable, timetables with Clock-face scheduling, cyclic schedules. SBB was ranked first among national Rail transport in Europe, European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service, and safety rating. Whil ...
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Lago Ritom
__NOTOC__ Lago Ritom is a lake in the Piora valley, Ticino, Switzerland. The natural lake is used as a reservoir by the Swiss Federal Railways ( SBB-CFF-FFS) to generate hydro-electric power for the Gotthard line. The first dam was built in 1918 and, in 1950, its height was increased by 23 m. Overview The lake's surface area is 1.49 km² at an elevation of 1850 m. With Lake Cadagno and Lago di Tom, it is one of the main lakes in the Piora valley. Before being used as a reservoir, Lake Ritom was a meromictic lake similar to the nearby Lake Cadagno. Transport The lake can be reached by funicular from Piotta 786 m below. The track with a length of 1,369 m has a maximum inclination of 87.8%, the highest in Europe after the Gelmerbahn funicular (106%). See also * List of lakes of Switzerland *List of mountain lakes of Switzerland This is a list of high-altitude lakes of Switzerland. It includes all significant lakes located either entirely or partly in Switzerland, ...
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A2 Motorway (Switzerland)
The A2 (the Gotthard Motorway) is a motorway in Switzerland. It forms Switzerland's main north–south axis from Basel to Chiasso, meandering with a slight drift toward the east. It lies on the Gotthard axis and crosses the Alps. Opened in 1955 under the name "Road Lucerne-south", A2 is one of the busiest motorways in Switzerland. The A2 motorway leaves Basel heading south toward Olten, Sursee, Luzern, Stans, Altdorf, Erstfeld, Göschenen, Airolo, Biasca, Bellinzona, Lugano and reaches Chiasso. It intersects with the A1, A8, A13 and A14 motorways. The St. Gotthard Tunnel lies at the heart of the motorway and makes up its culminating point. With a maximum elevation of at the tunnel's highest point, the A2 motorway has the lowest maximum elevation of any direct north–south road through the Alps. Traffic jams stretching for kilometres on end are frequently found on both entrances of the tunnel, but more frequently on the northern flank. The difficulty with drivi ...
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Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Romanesque is characterized by semicircular arches, while the Gothic is marked by the pointed arches. The Romanesque emerged nearly simultaneously in multiple countries of Western Europe; its examples can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture. Similarly to Gothic, the name of the style was transferred onto the contemporary Romanesque art. Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars, barrel vaults, large towers and decorative arcading. Each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical ...
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Parish Church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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, often allowing its premises to be used for non-religious community events. The Church architecture, church building reflects this status, and there is considerable variety in the size and style of parish churches. Many villages in Europe have churches that date back to the Middle Ages, but all periods of architecture are represented. Catholic Church Each diocese (administrative unit, headed by a bishop) is divided into parishes. Normally, a parish consists of all Catholics living within its geographically defined area. Within a diocese, there can also be overlapping parishes for Catholics belonging to a particular rite, language, nationality, or community. Each parish has its own central church called the parish church, ...
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Biasca
Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera (district), Riviera in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as ''Aviasca'' in the ''Liber viventium'' of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it was mentioned as ''Abiasca''. Early history In 948, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vercelli, Bishop of Vercelli donated the area around Biasca to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan, Bishop of Milan. This led to the spiritual and secular domination of the valley north of Bellinzona. During the Bishop's conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire over the Lombardy provinces, Biasca and the surrounding region suffered from armies marching through the valley. A branch of the Orelli family of Locarno was given the castle above Biasca, near the chapel of S. Petronilla, in the 12th century. They were also given the rights of High, middle and low justice, high justice over the village. However, in 1292 the village was able to push through an a ...
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