Ghirone 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

Blenio Blenio is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Blenio (district), district of Blenio, in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Blenio was created on 22 October 2006 when it incorporated the formerly autonomous ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

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 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Ghirone would merge with

Aquila Aquila may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Aquila'', a series of books by S.P. Somtow * ''Aquila'', a 1997 book by Andrew Norriss * ''Aquila'' (children's magazine), a UK-based children's magazine * ''Aquila'' (journal), an orni ...

Campo Blenio Campo Blenio was a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Blenio (district), Blenio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Campo Blenio ...

Olivone Olivone was a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Blenio (district), Blenio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 25 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Olivone would merge ...

and Torre to form a new municipality to be called

. This union was carried through on 22 October 2006.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14 January 2010

History

Ghirone is first mentioned in 1200 as ''Agairono''. In 1334,

Disentis Abbey Disentis Abbey () is a Benedictine monastery in the Grisons, Canton of Grisons in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis () grew up. Early history Formerly the date of the foundation of this abbey, attributed to the local s ...

acquired rights over all the land in Ghirone. The village was part of the community of Aquila, and in 1803 it merged with the municipality of Ghirone. Then, in 1836, Buttino and Ghirone separated from Aquila and together founded their own community. Buttino was inhabited until the late 19th Century and was an autonomous village as far back as the 13th Century. The two municipalities rejoined Aquila in 1842 and 1846 and finally separated in 1853. The Citizens Community ('' Patriziato''), which still bears the name of Ghirone-Buttino was founded in 1914. The Church of SS Martino e Giorgio was first mentioned in 1215 and was rebuilt around 1700. 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 ...

separated from Aquila in 1758 and became independent. As with the other municipalities of the Blenio Valley, much of the population emigrated to other European countries (often as chestnut roaster, servants and waiters). While this was a major source of revenue, it led to a steady population decline. In the late 1950s the Luzzone Dam (1995 and 1999 expanded) was built between the municipalities of Ghirone and Aquila. The dam is used to generate

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power. The large-scale construction of the dam and the new road tunnel at Toira in 1958, improved the local economy. The new tunnel allowed winter and summer tourism, and the development of a winter sports center (with Campo Blenio) gave the economy a definite boost. Livestock farming, which was for centuries had been the main occupation, however, fell sharply.

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following table: : includes Buttino : During construction of the Luzzone Dam

References

External links

* Former municipalities of Ticino {{Ticino-geo-stub