Camignolo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Camignolo
Former municipality of Switzerland
Coat of arms
Camignolo Location in Switzerland Show map of Switzerland Camignolo Location in Canton of Ticino Show map of Canton of Ticino
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Ticino
District	Lugano
Area
• Total	4.53 km2 (1.75 sq mi)
Elevation	449 m (1,473 ft)
Population
• Total	664
• Density	146.58/km2 (379.6/sq mi)
Postal code	6803
Surrounded by	Bironico, Capriasca, Lugaggia, Medeglia, Mezzovico-Vira, Rivera

Camignolo was once a small town, or municipality, in the Lugano area of Ticino, a canton in Switzerland. On November 21, 2010, Camignolo joined with other towns like Medeglia, Bironico, Rivera, and Sigirino to form a new, larger municipality called Monteceneri.

History of Camignolo

Camignolo was first mentioned in old records in 1296. Back in the Middle Ages, it was part of a larger church area called the parish of Bironico. It was also part of the Valle Carvina community. The Como Cathedral (a big church) owned land in the village.

A castle called San Ambrogio is mentioned in 1348. It was likely destroyed around the early 1500s, when the Swiss Confederation took control.

Camignolo became a "vice-parish" (a smaller church area) in 1670. It then became a full parish in 1809. The main church, S. Pietro e Paolo, was first mentioned in the 1400s. Its current look comes from a rebuilding in 1670. There's also an older chapel, S. Ambrogio, from the 10th century. It's famous for its beautiful frescoes (wall paintings) from the late Romanesque period and the 1400s. This chapel was fixed up between 1976 and 1979.

For a long time, most people in Camignolo worked in farming. Many people also left the village to find work elsewhere before industries grew in the valley. More recently, there has been some growth in building, factories, and shops. Camignolo is also home to a secondary school for older students.

Geography of Camignolo

Aerial view of Camignolo in 1964

Camignolo covered an area of about 4.53 square kilometers (1.75 square miles) in 1997.

• About 9.7% of this land was used for farming.
• A large part, 71.7%, was covered by forests.
• About 7.3% was settled areas, meaning buildings or roads.
• A small amount, 1.3%, was rivers or lakes.
• The remaining 7.1% was unproductive land, like rocky areas.

Most of the settled land was for houses and buildings (4.4%). Roads and other transport areas made up 2.2%. In the forests, 66.4% was dense forest, and 2.6% had orchards or small groups of trees. For farming, 4.4% was for growing crops and 4.4% was for mountain pastures. All the water in the area was flowing water, like rivers.

The village is located in the Lugano district. It sits near a bridge over the Vedeggio river, at the end of the Valle d'Isone. The area of the municipality stretched from the left side of the valley up to Gola di Lago. It also included a mountain pasture called Alp Santa Maria in Lago.

Coat of Arms

The blazon (official description) of Camignolo's municipal coat of arms is: Quartered argent and vert a key and a sword counterchanged both palewise. This means the shield is divided into four sections. Two sections are silver (argent) and two are green (vert). In the silver sections, there is a green key and a green sword standing upright. In the green sections, there is a silver key and a silver sword standing upright.

Population and People

In December 2004, Camignolo had a population of 664 people. By 2008, about 8.6% of the people living there were from other countries. Over ten years (1997-2007), the population grew by 20.3%.

Most people in Camignolo speak Italian (91.6%). German is the second most common language (5.2%), and French is third (1.8%).

In 2008, the population was almost evenly split between males (50.1%) and females (49.9%). Most residents were Swiss citizens.

The population changed a bit in 2008. There were 10 Swiss babies born and 3 Swiss people passed away. Some people moved in and out of the village. Overall, the Swiss population increased by 6, and the non-Swiss population also increased by 6. This meant the total population grew by 1.6% that year.

In 2009, the age groups in Camignolo were:

• Children (0-9 years old): 12.3%
• Teenagers (10-19 years old): 10.8%
• Young adults (20-29 years old): 7.8%
• Adults (30-59 years old): 45.3%
• Seniors (60 years and older): 23.8%

In 2000, there were 237 private homes in Camignolo, with about 2.5 people living in each home. Most of these homes (78.7%) were single-family houses. About 66.2% of homes were owned by the people living in them.

The historical population of Camignolo is shown in this chart:

Economy

In 2007, the unemployment rate in Camignolo was 3.07%. This means a small percentage of people looking for jobs couldn't find them.

In 2005, jobs in Camignolo were divided into three main types:

• Primary sector: This includes jobs like farming or forestry. Only 2 people worked in this sector, with 2 businesses.
• Secondary sector: This involves manufacturing or construction. 31 people worked here, with 10 businesses.
• Tertiary sector: This covers services like shops, schools, or healthcare. 34 people worked in this sector, with 9 businesses.

In total, 270 residents of Camignolo had jobs. About 32.6% of these workers were female.

In 2000, 46 people came into Camignolo for work, while 199 people left the village to work elsewhere. This means many more people left Camignolo for work than came in. Of the working population, 7.8% used public transport, and 68.5% drove their own cars to work.

Religion

According to the 2000 census:

• 520 people (87.2%) were Roman Catholic.
• 35 people (5.9%) belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.
• 26 people (4.36%) belonged to other churches not listed.
• 15 people (2.52%) did not answer the question about their religion.

Education

In Camignolo, about 71.9% of adults (aged 25 to 64) had completed either high school or further education like university.

In 2009, there were 146 students in Camignolo. The Ticino education system offers different levels of schooling:

• Kindergarten: Up to three years, not required. 20 children were in kindergarten.
• Primary School: Lasts five years. 52 students attended standard primary schools, and 3 attended a special school.
• Lower Secondary School: Students either go to a two-year middle school (then a two-year apprenticeship prep) or a four-year program for higher education. 41 students were in middle school, and 17 were in the advanced program.
• Upper Secondary School: Prepares students for trades or university. 4 students were full-time vocational students, and 8 were part-time.
• Professional Program: Lasts three years, preparing for jobs like engineering or nursing. 1 student was in this program.

In 2000, 375 students came to Camignolo from other villages for school. At the same time, 22 residents of Camignolo went to schools outside the village.

Notable people

• Giovanni Battista Belli-Bernasconi (1770 in Camignolo – 1827) was a Russian architect. He designed many famous classical buildings and groups of buildings in Saint Petersburg and nearby areas.

See also

In Spanish: Camignolo para niños