Faido
Encyclopedia
Faido is the capital of the district of Leventina
Leventina (district)
The district of Leventina 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 at the beginning or at the end of the valley....

 in the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

-speaking canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...

 in southern Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

On 29 January 2006, Faido grew by incorporating the villages of Chiggiogna, Rossura, and Calonico.

History

The municipality is first documented in 1171 as Faedo. In German it was previously known as Feit or Pfaid. Crucial for the development of the municipality into a regional center was the location in the middle of the valley and at the foot of the gorge of Mount Piottino. The mountain was a barrier to passenger and goods transport, which required a stop and facilities for travelers. Additionally, under Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...

's rule (15th-18th century), it was the capital of the Levantina and a key to Uri's control of the Ticino. The meetings of the local head of the Levantine (parlamento generale) and the Council of the valley community were held in Faido.

The former Vicinanza
Bürgergemeinde
The Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland...

of Faido (based in Mairengo) consisted of three Degagna.

During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 the church of San Siro in Mairengo (first mentioned in 1171) was the baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...

 of the Vicinanza. The village church of S. Andrea in Faido was first mentioned in the 13th Century. Following the fire of 1331, it was rebuilt and in 1579 was elevated to a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

. It was expanded in 1830. The Chapel of St. Bernardino of Siena from 1459 was under the patronage of the Varesi family, which also owned a six-story pptower house]]. In 1607, a Capuchin
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...

 monastery was founded, which was for a long time the seat of the Seminary of the Capuchins and cultural center. The monastery school was open to boys from the valley. The monastery complex includes the Church of San Francesco, built in 1608, and rebuilt in 1785/86.

The history of the 19th Century in the valley, revolved about the Gotthard road (built 1820-30) and the Gotthard Rail Tunnel
Gotthard Rail Tunnel
The Gotthard Rail Tunnel, is a 15-kilometre long railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Gotthard massif...

 (1871–1881). The railway encouraged the founding various hotels (including the Hôtel Suisse in 1905) and the spread of crafts and small industries. In 1889, Faido was the first town in Ticino with electric lighting. Like most of the Leventina, nany inhabitants emigrated to France, England, Australia and America. However, Faido also experienced an immigration of artisans and the establishment of small industrial enterprises, some of them as branches of government-operated enterprises. Most of these small businesses have since disappeared or moved. Before World War I, the village was, especially with Milanese families, a popular and bustling holiday resort. The Leventiner Hospital S. Croce was built in 1917 on the initiative of the clergy. It is a retirement home since 1992. The current District Hospital was built in 1923 at the request of residents and civic communities of the Levantine. In 1976 Faido fought successfully against the fragmentation of the municipal area by the highway and got a bypass tunnel.

In the spring of 2004, the residents voted for incorporating the surrounding municipalities of Chiggiogna, Osco, Mairengo, Calpiogna, Campello, Rossura, Calonico, Anzonico, Cavagnago, and Sobrio. Most of the municipalities rejected the proposition, and the new municipality consists of Faido, Chiggiogna, Rossura, and Calonico.

Geography

Faido has an area, , of 25.4 square kilometres (9.8 sq mi). Of this area, 0.87 km² (0.335908877975505 sq mi) or 3.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.36 km² (0.911201094278383 sq mi) or 9.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.79 km² (0.305020705288103 sq mi) or 3.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.07 km² (17.3 acre) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.06 km² (14.8 acre) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 1.9% is used for growing crops and 1.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is the district capital and home of the district court of the Leventina. In 2006 Faido merged with Fuso, Chiggiogna, Faido and Rossura.

Coat of arms

The blazon
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 the appropriate image...

 of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is Gules a Latin cross couped indented Argent and issuant from it a hand in blessing of the same clead Purpure.

Demographics

Faido has a population of . , 29.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of -8.2%.

Most of the population speaks Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

(84.2%), with Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...

 being second most common ( 7.7%) and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 being third ( 3.5%). Of the Swiss national languages , 44 speak German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, 18 people speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, 1,288 people speak Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

. The remainder (198 people) speak another language.

, the gender distribution of the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 661 Swiss men (33.0% of the population), and 318 (15.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 737 Swiss women (36.7%), and 290 (14.5%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 10 live births to Swiss citizens and 5 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 16 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 6 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 15 non-Swiss men and 8 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 4 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 3 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.4%.

The age distribution, , in Faido is; 142 children or 7.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 205 teenagers or 10.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 245 people or 12.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 231 people or 11.5% are between 30 and 39, 331 people or 16.5% are between 40 and 49, and 313 people or 15.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 210 people or 10.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 173 people or 8.6% are between 70 and 79, there are 156 people or 7.8% who are over 80.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 40.6% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 829 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. there were 147 single family homes (or 45.9% of the total) out of a total of 320 inhabited buildings. There were 58 two family buildings (18.1%) and 61 multi-family buildings (19.1%). There were also 54 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.66%. there were 737 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 246. There were 47 single room apartments and 128 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 613 apartments (83.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 95 apartments (12.9%) were seasonally occupied and 29 apartments (3.9%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2 new units per 1000 residents.

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1567 50 Hearths
1639 255
1745 383
1850 704
1880 1,293
1900 860
1950 1,173
1970 1,866
1990 1,660
2000 1,548

Heritage sites of national significance

The Selvini House, the Church of S. Maria Assunta and the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of SS. Lorenzo e Agata are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

. The villages of Faido, Calonico, Rossura, Tengia and Figgione are all listed in the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...

.

Politics

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

 which received 34.09% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....

 (29.09%), the Ticino League
Ticino League
The Ticino League is an isolationist, national conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.In 1991, after some public campaigning in the Sunday journal Mattino della Domenica against political power and use of public money, the editor Giuliano Bignasca and the...

 (14.64%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (14.04%). In the federal election, a total of 653 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 55.5%.

In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 1,151 registered voters in Faido, of which 892 or 77.5% voted. 10 blank ballots were cast, leaving 882 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...

+GenGiova which received 263 or 29.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....

 (with 217 or 24.6%), the SSI (with 175 or 19.8%) and the PS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (with 105 or 11.9%).

In the Consiglio di Stato election, 4 blank ballots were cast, leaving 888 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD which received 261 or 29.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 224 or 25.2%), the SSI (with 145 or 16.3%) and the LEGA (with 120 or 13.5%).

Economy

, Faido had an unemployment rate of 3.86%. , there were 54 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 19 businesses involved in this sector. 208 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 24 businesses in this sector. 651 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 97 businesses in this sector. There were 703 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.0% of the workforce.

, there were 496 workers who commuted into the municipality and 260 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.9 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 8.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 51.3% used a private car.

, there were 4 hotels in Faido with a total of 48 rooms and 94 beds.

Religion

From the , 1,189 or 76.8% were Roman Catholic, while 37 or 2.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

. There are 263 individuals (or about 16.99% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 59 individuals (or about 3.81% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Faido has an average of 106.4 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1416 mm (55.7 in) of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

. The wettest month is May during which time Faido receives an average of 151 mm (5.9 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.8 days. The driest month of the year is December with an average of 67 mm (2.6 in) of precipitation over 7.4 days.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Faido about 56.5% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

).

In Faido there were a total of 305 students . The Ticino education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...

 provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

and in Faido there were 33 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 79 students attended the standard primary schools and 4 students attended the special school. 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 70 students in the two year middle school and 0 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 34 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 21 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 58 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 6 students in the professional program.

, there were 77 students in Faido who came from another municipality, while 113 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

External links

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