News & Information! Dec 26, 2007 23:38:21 Bellinzona: CastelgrandeBellinzona, in the Swiss canton of Ticino, is the site of three medieval castles named by UNESCO in 2001 as a World Heritage Site. The three castles - Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro – along with the fortif...
Bellinzona is the capital city of the canton Ticino, and is famous for its three castles: Castelgrande, Montebello, Sasso Corbaro that are now part of the UNESCO world heritage.
The Roman name of the city was Blizuna. The city is mentioned in medieval sources in 1218 as Bilizone. It was the capital of the canton of Bellinzona from 1798 to 1803, and of the new canton of Ticino from 1803 to 1814. From that date until 1878, Bellinzona, Lugano, and Locarno, took turns being capital every six years.
In 2000, the city had 16,463 inhabitants. Of those, 14,392 speak Italian and 590 German. In that census, 30.6 percent were non-Swiss, mostly from Italy. The metropolitan area of Bellinzona has a population of 48,300, divided into 16 municipalities. The local football team is AC Bellinzona. Bellinzona is an important stop for major trains heading either north toward Zürich, or south toward Lugano, Chiasso and Italy or bound for the southwest to Locarno. The A2 and A13 motorways, as well as some main roads, link here, thus making it an important transportation node.
On July 21, 1985, Swiss swimming sprinter Dano Halsall set a world record in the 50 m freestyle in Bellinzona\'s local pool, clocking in at 22.52 seconds.
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