Page 199 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Switzerland

Dusk falling over breathtaking Lake Lugano

CENTRAL

SWITZERLAND

AND TICINO

The cradle of the Swiss Confederation and the
birthplace of the legendary hero William Tell,
central Switzerland is at both the geographical
and the historical heart of the country. Bordering
the east and south shores of Lake Lucerne, Schwyz,
Uri and Unterwalde, known as the Waldstätte, or
Forest Cantons, formed an alliance in 1291 that
marked the foundation of the Swiss Confederation.
Champion of the people William Tell became the
stuff of legend by inciting the peasant rebellion, in
1307, that would go on to overthrow Habsburg rule,
but it wasn’t until the latter half of the 15th century
that he appears in a collection of folk tales.
While William Tell was reputedly leading
uprisings to the north, the dukes of Milan were
fighting over what is now the southern canton of
Ticino. Separated from its northern neighbours by
the Alps, this Mediterranean-influenced region is
bordered on almost all other sides by Italy. It was
annexed by the Swiss Confederates in the early
16th century, but it only joined the Confederation
as a free canton in 1803. This large, Italian-speaking
canton in the sunny foothills of the southern Alps
has a pace of life that is markedly more relaxed
than elsewhere in Switzerland.
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