Melano

A Roman era necropolis was discovered in the municipality. The modern village of Melano is first mentioned in 799 as Mellani. In 1192 it was mentioned as Melano. In 847, the Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Ambrogio of Milan owned land in Melano. In the Middle Ages the city of Como, controlled the port of Melano. During their wars against Milan in the early 12th Century, the port was of strategic importance. In the Late Middle Ages there was a wall between Melano and Capolago (first mentioned in 1449) that led down to the lake from Monte Generoso. In 1798, Melano belonged to the short-lived Republic of Riva San Vitale. Melano was part of the parish of Riva San Vitale until 1591 when it became an independent parish. The Parish Church of St. Andrew was built in the 15th Century, totally rebuilt in 1846-50 and restored in 1992–94. In 1634-37 the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Castelletto was built on a previous, 14th Century building. It was restored in 1985-87 and is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the Ticino. Agriculture, livestock, forestry and seasonal migrations have long been the main sources of income. In 1840 Giovanni Battista Fogliardi opened one of the first silk mills in Ticino in Melano. At the beginning of the 21st Century much of the economy is based around tourism. ==Geography==

Melano has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 4.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 73.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 16.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and 5.7% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 6.8% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1983 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 1.75% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards, is fields and grasslands and consists of alpine grazing areas. Since 1983 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality. The municipality is located in the Lugano district, on the eastern shore of Lake Lugano at the foot of Monte Generoso. ==Coat of arms==

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a hazel dormouse or the chief embatteled argent and in base also argent three bendlets wavy azure. ==Demographics==

Melano has a population () of . , 23.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 18.2%. Most of the population () speaks Italian (84.9%), with German being second most common (8.1%) and Spanish being third (1.5%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 89 speak German, 10 people speak French, 936 people speak Italian. The remainder (67 people) speak another language. , the gender distribution of the population was 50.7% male and 49.3% female. The population was made up of 485 Swiss men (37.4% of the population), and 173 (13.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 511 Swiss women (39.4%), and 128 (9.9%) non-Swiss women. , there were 500 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.91%. there were 605 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 193. There were 24 single room apartments and 159 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 497 apartments (82.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 99 apartments (16.4%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (1.5%) were empty. Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1200 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:200 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:40 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1591 from:start till:100 text:"100" bar:1702 from:start till:193 text:"193" bar:1769 from:start till:205 text:"205" bar:1801 from:start till:351 text:"351" bar:1850 from:start till:368 text:"368" bar:1860 from:start till:454 text:"454" bar:1870 from:start till:508 text:"508" bar:1880 from:start till:533 text:"533" bar:1890 from:start till:583 text:"583" bar:1900 from:start till:584 text:"584" bar:1910 from:start till:619 text:"619" bar:1920 from:start till:464 text:"464" bar:1930 from:start till:472 text:"472" bar:1941 from:start till:490 text:"490" bar:1950 from:start till:529 text:"529" bar:1960 from:start till:661 text:"661" bar:1970 from:start till:893 text:"893" bar:1980 from:start till:856 text:"856" bar:1990 from:start till:907 text:"907" bar:2000 from:start till:1102 text:"1,102" ==Heritage sites of national significance==

The Della Madonna Del Castelletto Church is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Melano is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. ==Politics==

In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the FDP with 25.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Ticino League (23.3%), the CVP (17.1%) and the SP (15.4%). In the federal election, a total of 408 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 48.6%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 33.47% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (18.09%), the SP (16.49%) and the Ticino League (12.25%). In the federal election, a total of 317 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 41.1%. In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 780 registered voters in Melano, of which 432 or 55.4% voted. 13 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 418 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 106 or 25.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 81 or 19.4%), the PPD+GenGiova (with 64 or 15.3%) and the SSI (with 62 or 14.8%). In the Consiglio di Stato election, 9 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 422 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 107 or 25.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 94 or 22.3%), the LEGA (with 70 or 16.6%) and the PPD (with 64 or 15.2%). ==Economy==

, Melano had an unemployment rate of 2.57%. , there were 12 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 73 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 9 businesses in this sector. 185 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 42 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 6.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 68.4% used a private car. ==Religion==

From the , 905 or 82.1% were Roman Catholic, while 55 or 5.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 125 individuals (or about 11.34% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 17 individuals (or about 1.54% of the population) did not answer the question. ==Education==

In Melano about 72% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). There were 13 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 26 who attend part-time. The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 2 students in the professional program. , there was 1 student in Melano who came from another municipality, while 191 residents attended schools outside the municipality. ==Transport==

Melano is served by the Maroggia-Melano station, situated on the border with the adjoining municipality of Maroggia, which is on the Gotthard railway. ==References==