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Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzone
| Site number: | 884 |
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| Type of site: | Cultural | |
| Date: | - | |
| Date of Inscription: | 2000 | |
| Location: | Europe, Switzerland, Bellinzone - Canton of Ticino | |
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| Description: | Composed of a group of fortifications clustered on all sides of the castle of Castelgrande, the Bellinzone site rests on a rocky peak facing towards the Ticino valley. A series of fortified walls run from the castle - acting as protection for the ancient town and blocking the passage through the valley. Shaping an integral part of the fortifications is a second castle, Montebello, while a third, detached castle, Sasso Corbaro, was erected on a remote rocky peninsula south-east of the other ramparts. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. | |
| Bellinzona (in French Bellinzone, in archaic German Bellenz and Bilitio in Latin) is the capital city of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sasso Corbaro) that are now part of the UNESCO world heritage. The city lies east of the Ticino River. It stretches along the river valley, surrounded by the Gotthard Massif. 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. The includes the village of Artore and, since the incorporation in 1907, the former municipalities of Carasso , Daro, and Ravecchia. The city is known for its carnival Rabadan, which has taken place for over 150 years. The local football team is AC Bellinzona. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. | ||
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/884 | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |