Bellinzona (in Italian Bellinzona [bellinˈtsoːna], in Latin Bilitio) is a Swiss city, capital of the canton of Ticino and the district of Bellinzona.
The city was mentioned for the first time with the name of Bilitio in a text by Gregorio de Tours- (590), when the encounter between a fraction of Frankish warriors in the direction of the Lucomagno pass and the Lombards who lived in the fortress of Bellinzona occurred. .
During the high Middle Ages, Bellinzona became a place of great importance between Como and Milan, to enter the Milanese area of influence from the 15th century. In the first half of the 16th century, following the complex political-military vicissitudes of the Duchy of Milan, Bellinzona was ceded by the French to the Swiss Confederates. The city will be controlled as a bailiwick (a kind of colony) until the end of the 18th century when Napoleon invades Swiss territory, forcing the creation of two sovereign cantons in the south, the cantons of Bellinzona and Lugano, which would later merge in 1803 to give life to the canton of Ticino.
Bellinzona was chosen as the cantonal capital, after several decades of capital city rotation between Lugano and Bellinzona itself. Currently, the city is the seat of the Tesinese cantonal government and the Federal Criminal Court. At this time, the possibility of merging the city with the bordering communes of the district is under discussion, with the idea of obtaining a better urban enhancement and greater weight both at the cantonal and national levels, in addition to obtaining greater sources of financing. and reduce the administrative costs of a region in the event of an economic crisis.
Bellinzona is famous for its three castles: Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro, which since 2000 belong to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the wall of the old town. Read More
Distance between:
Geneva to Bellinzona138 Miles / 222 Kms Lucerne to Bellinzona71 Miles / 115 Kms Zürich to Bellinzona84 Miles / 136 Kms Basel to Bellinzona117 Miles / 188 Kms Bern to Bellinzona90 Miles / 144 Kms Lausanne to Bellinzona115 Miles / 185 Kms
Postal Code
Population 2019
Total: 43 220
Total Men: 20 931
Total Women: 22 289
46.1946216,9.0244124