Maroggia is a former
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
Lugano
Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
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 Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...
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 10 April 2022, the former municipalities of Maroggia,
Melano and
Rovio merged to form the new municipality of
Val Mara.
History
Maroggia is first mentioned around 962-966 as ''Marogia''.
[
The Maroggia area has been inhabited since the ]Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
. In 1906, a northern Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things:
**Etruscan language
** Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
**Etruscan coins
**Etruscan history
**Etruscan myt ...
inscription was discovered, followed by a Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
stele
A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...
in 1926. The Lombards
The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...
King Liutprand gave the village to church of S. Carpoforo in Como
Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...
in 724. Later it went to the Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
abbey of S. Ambrogio in Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. In 1798, it joined the short-lived Republic of Riva San Vitale.[
The village belonged to the ]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 com ...
of Riva San Vitale
Riva San Vitale is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland, located in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio.
History
Riva San Vitale is first mentioned in 774 as ' ...
until 1644 when it became an independent 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 ...
. The parish church of St. Peter is first mentioned in 1579, but was built in the Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
. The new building was built in 1640 and restored in 1982–83. On the foundation of a building from the 16th Century the pilgrimage chapel of Madonna della Cintura was built in 1731–66.[
Historically, the villager earned their living from fishing and making charcoal. The current mill, which was fully automated in 2000, dates from the 19th Century. At the same time, there was a paper factory and a food processing plant. In 1878 Romeo Manzoni opened a girls' boarding school, which was named after him. The school was sold in 1905, to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales who established the Don Bosco College in the building. In 2000 about two-thirds of the workers, worked outside the municipality. In 2005, over half of the jobs in the municipality were in the industrial sector of the economy.][
]
Geography
Maroggia has an area, , of . Of this area, or 20.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 58.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 33.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.0% is either rivers or lakes.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 16.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 11.0%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.0%. Out of the forested land, 53.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.0% is used for growing crops and 16.0% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Lugano district, on the eastern bank of Lake Lugano
Lake Lugano ( or , from ; ) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore. It was cited for the first t ...
.
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 ''Azure a donkey argent passant over a bridge of the same massoned sable above three lines wavy also argent and in chief three mullets or one and two.''
Demographics
Maroggia has a population () of . , 27.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 4.9%.
Most of the population () speaks 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 ...
(85.4%), with 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 ...
being second most common (6.0%) and Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
being third (2.3%).[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 11-January-2011 Of the Swiss national languages (), 34 speak German, 11 people speak French, 480 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The remainder (36 people) speak another language.[Popolazione residente, secondo la lingua principale e la religione, nel 2000]
accessed 23 November 2010
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.1% male and 51.9% female. The population was made up of 206 Swiss men (34.8% of the population), and 79 (13.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 228 Swiss women (38.5%), and 79 (13.3%) non-Swiss women.[
In there were 6 live births to Swiss citizens and were 7 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population decreased by 1. There were 2 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 6 non-Swiss women 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 10 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 12 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 0.3%.[
The age distribution, , in Maroggia is; 48 children or 8.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 41 teenagers or 6.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 60 people or 10.1% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 98 people or 16.6% are between 30 and 39, 101 people or 17.1% are between 40 and 49, and 67 people or 11.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 81 people or 13.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 56 people or 9.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 40 people or 6.8% who are over 80.][01.02.03 Popolazione residente permanente]
accessed 23 November 2010
, there were 268 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household.[ there were 84 single family homes (or 54.5% of the total) out of a total of 154 inhabited buildings. There were 30 two family buildings (19.5%) and 21 multi-family buildings (13.6%). There were also 19 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%. there were 419 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 137. There were 32 single room apartments and 76 apartments with five or more rooms.][ 09.02.02 Abitazioni](_blank)
accessed 23 November 2010 Of these apartments, a total of 267 apartments (63.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 149 apartments (35.6%) were seasonally occupied and 3 apartments (0.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents.[
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
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Period = from:0 till:690
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ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:25 start:0
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color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center
bar:1636 from:start till:114 text:"114"
bar:1791 from:start till:151 text:"151"
bar:1850 from:start till:211 text:"211"
bar:1860 from:start till:191 text:"191"
bar:1870 from:start till:202 text:"202"
bar:1880 from:start till:298 text:"298"
bar:1890 from:start till:342 text:"342"
bar:1900 from:start till:414 text:"414"
bar:1910 from:start till:496 text:"496"
bar:1920 from:start till:493 text:"493"
bar:1930 from:start till:481 text:"481"
bar:1941 from:start till:458 text:"458"
bar:1950 from:start till:577 text:"577"
bar:1960 from:start till:644 text:"644"
bar:1970 from:start till:689 text:"689"
bar:1980 from:start till:554 text:"554"
bar:1990 from:start till:575 text:"575"
bar:2000 from:start till:562 text:"562"
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 22.54% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.9%), the Ticino League
The Ticino League () 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. After some public camp ...
(18.52%) and the FDP (18.38%). In the federal election, a total of 181 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 47.3%.
In the '' Gran Consiglio'' election, there were a total of 386 registered voters in Maroggia, of which 243 or 63.0% voted. 5 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 237 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 47 or 19.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD+GenGiova (with 46 or 19.4%), the PS (with 45 or 19.0%) and the SSI (with 39 or 16.5%).[ Elezioni cantonali: Gran Consiglio, Consiglio di Stato]
accessed 23 November 2010
In the ''Consiglio di Stato'' election, 2 blank ballots were cast, leaving 241 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PS which received 55 or 22.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 44 or 18.3%), the LEGA (with 43 or 17.8%) and the PPD (with 42 or 17.4%).[
]
Economy
, Maroggia had an unemployment rate of 4.15%. , there were 2 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 1 business involved in this sector. 91 people were employed in the secondary sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...
and there were 10 businesses in this sector. 64 people were employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
, with 24 businesses in this sector.[ There were 279 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.6% of the workforce.
, there were 206 workers who commuted into the municipality and 206 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 25.7% of the workforce coming into Maroggia are coming from outside Switzerland, while 1.9% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.][Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 13.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.1% used a private car.[
, there were 2 hotels in Maroggia.
]
Religion
From the , 456 or 81.1% 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 24 or 4.3% 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 71 individuals (or about 12.63% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 11 individuals (or about 1.96% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Maroggia about 67.1% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''Fachhochschule
A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...
'').[
In Maroggia there were a total of 67 students (). The Ticino ]education system
The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...
provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
and in Maroggia there were 14 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years. In the municipality, 17 students attended the standard primary schools. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 14 students in the two-year middle school, while 11 students were in the four-year advanced program.
The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 5 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 6 who attend part-time. Allievi e studenti, secondo il genere di scuola, anno scolastico 2009/2010
accessed 23 November 2010
, there were 44 students in Maroggia who came from another municipality, while 62 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
Transport
Maroggia is served by the Maroggia-Melano station, situated on the border with the adjoining municipality of Melano, which is on the Gotthard railway just to the south of the Maroggia Tunnel.
The A2 motorway, which links Lugano
Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
and the north of Switzerland with Chiasso
Chiasso (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As Extreme points of Switzerland, the southernmost of Switzerland's ...
and Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, passes through Maroggia, with the motorway's San Nicolao Tunnel on the municipality's northern border. However, there is no motorway junction within the municipality, with traffic having to use local roads to access junctions at Melide/ Bissone to the north, or 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 ...
to the south.
References
{{Authority control
Former municipalities of Ticino
Populated places on Lake Lugano