FUSIO (FÜS) FROM 1258 TILL TODAY At the end of the world, or its beginning? While Locarno as the warmest place of Fusio (Füs in the local dialect) is a mountain Switzerland enjoys a mediterranean climate Fusio village in the Swiss Canton of Ticino. It is the has a pleasant mountain climate in the summer. last village in the Val Lavizzara, the last part of the Glacier ice on the Basòdino (3272 metres) and lemon Valle Maggia, at nearly 1’300 metres above sea trees on Lago Maggiore – these sharp contrasts level. Two of the best known and highest peaks of exist side by side in a very confined space. the region are Pizzo Campo Tencia (3072 metres) and Cristallina (2912 metres). Most of the about thirty permanent residents of Fusio don’t speak the official language, Italian, Due to the lack of a mountain pass road Fusio every day but a Ticinese dialect which is part of the can only be reached from the south through the Lombardic language. The regional dialects are also Maggia valley, e.g. in about an hour from Locarno on visible on the official Swiss map were we encounter the Lago Maggiore (193 metres), the closest urban them in the form of many seemingly exotic moun- centre. As soon as your view is aimed north- or east- tain and field names such as Schüisgian, Schiadüü, wards across the mountains into neighbouring Croazzöö, Ri di Foiòi, Pioèe and Madom da Sgióf. Valle Leventina the borders between near and far German is understood in Fusio and the neighbouring blur: the distance as the crow flies between Fusio villages by some but by no means all inhabitants and the village of Ambrì, just below the Gotthard, is and spoken when needed. a mere 8 kilometres. Hotel Fusio, 2017 P. 01 / 02 FUSIO (FÜS) FROM 1258 TILL TODAY Eventful times in Fusio During the 20th century the dramatic population The first written mention of Fusio dates to the loss continued, now due to the attraction of the year 1258. Besides alpine farming and cattle breeding municipal centres in the valley. However, for some cereals and hemp were cultivated in and around time now the signs have been increasing that Fusio Fusio for a long time. Marble and soapstone quarry- does not only have a past but also a future. In 1975 the ing generated additional income and mills, stamps APAV was founded, the Association for the Protec- as well as saw mills powered by water facilitated the tion of the Artistic and Architectural Heritage of the work. In the heyday of the 16th/17th centuries the Maggia valley. This association takes care of the number of inhabitants reached about five hundred, renovation of, among others, decrepit alpine huts, large scale cheese production led to a trade sur- granaries and mills and makes these accessible. plus and there were intensive contacts not only down Old rustici are converted into normal houses and the valley but also across the mountain passes into holiday homes, the delapidated Hotel Fusio has the Bedretto and Leventina valleys. The quarrying been rebuilt and new hiking trails and mountain of soapstone, from which commodities and stone climber routes such as the Via Alta Vallemaggia ovens were manufactured and exported among other or the Sentiero Lavizzara attract additional visitors. things, was very important up to the 19th century. Even today Fusio’s coat of arms shows a soapstone pot and also in the name of the Val Lavizzara (lavez means soapstone) this cultural tradition lives on. Up to the year 1800 the number of inhabitants sank to under 250, up to 1900 to under 200. Fusio wasn’t as strongly impacted by emigration overseas as other communities in the region. At the same time accomplishments of the modern world were introduced: 1871 a road to Fusio was built on which the first tourists and industrial products arrived in the village. The telegraph network and the postal bus followed. 1913 Fusio received its first telephone connections, and 1920 the age of electricity arrived – at this point in time 140 people still lived in the village. One of the most dramatic turning points for Fusio was the construction between 1950 and 1955 of a dam 130 metres high close by. This led to a loss of pastures in the Val Sambuco and to the presence of hundreds of workers but also to improved road access to the valley. Hotel Fusio, 2017 P. 02 / 02.