The Mendrisiotto

In just a few kilometres, you can pass from Monte Generoso’s snowy peaks, rife with chamois, to the mild climate of Lake Lugano, with its gentle shores perfect for a calming swim in the sunshine, from trekking trails to mountain-bike ascents. The Mendrisiotto, a region in southern Switzerland just next to the Italian border, is a little paradise full of sunshine for the majority of the year, aptly referred to by the Swiss as ‘Sonner Stube’.

Under the mountains, the gentle hills covered in vineyards, little stone hamlets, great natural parks, and impressive gorges carved out by flowing streams, the lake or many rivers to swim and enjoy the sunlight. An untouched environment that invites you to lose yourself in woodlands and fields, in absolute peace. A region suited especially to finding your feet, becoming in touch with yourself by making the most of your natural surroundings and taking long excursion by bike or on foot.

“I really appreciate the Mendrisiotto and I wish I could show it to everyone, but at the same time, I long to keep it secret because I want it to stay just the way it is: with very few tourists! Here Ticino is simply Ticino. The mounts and valleys of Mendrisiotto are calm places, real, authentic, and rich in cultural gems just waiting to be found.” So says Gardi Hutter, world-renowned artist when speaking of his home region.There is the rural, traditional Mendrisiotto, with its Museum of Peasant Folklore, the frequent events, fairs and festivals, the longstanding tradition of water mills which continues today, the ‘nevere’ – antique cool spaces in which to store the land’s fresh produce. There are the dozens of quality wine cellars, the educational centres that teach about the region’s rare plant species and that preserve the seeds of plants that would otherwise become extinct, as well as artisans who produce regional specialities, including common cured meats and cheeses. But the story of Mendrisiotto involves also that of hermitages, of early Christian Baptists, of Easter processions that recite the ‘Giorni della Passione’, of churches and monuments and 17th-century frescos, of energetic places already know in 1800 and frequented by Herman Hesse. In the region, along with the Unesco Heritage Site of Mount San Giorgio, with its Fossil Museum which attracts around 10,000 people a year, you will find many other attractions: the archaeological park in Tremona, a neolithic site which became a medieval city and can now be visited; museums and galleries in which to see modern art, classical sculpture, religious artefacts, but also architectural sites such as the ‘Academia e Teatro dell’Architettura’, linked to Mario Botta in Mendrisio. The Mendrisiotto is also home to the most important Swiss outlet, Foxtown which attracts hundreds of visitors from around the world every year.