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Valle Bavona: stone houses and (almost) no electricity

Valle Bavona is surrounded by hydroelectric power plants, but in the 1950s its inhabitants rejected electricity. Keeping away from modernity has been a plus for the valley. Since it had no electricity, no new buildings were constructed and the valley retained much of its authenticity. (Raffaella Rossello, swissinfo.ch)

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Raffaella Rossello

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Women were “stationary engine” of migration

This content was published on In the absence of their husbands, these women played a key role in alpine communities, taking on the toughest jobs and managing day-to-day affairs. Women are not normally thought of as playing an important role in the mountain environment – taking second place to men, who figure prominently in the popular imagination as mountaineers, smugglers…

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Leaving the poverty behind

This content was published on swissinfo’s Luigi Jorio joined the group for the walk up to the Sassello pass, once a point of transit for those leaving behind the poverty of their native valleys to seek their fortune overseas. My worst fears are confirmed: the climb up to the pass at 2,234 metres above sea level is exhausting. The trail…

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Mountains that block the sun

This content was published on Highsmith was able to paint a vivid picture of Ticino in the sentence that opens the story: “It was, it is, a land of mountains that block the sun, a land of granite outcroppings, of trees that cling to the slanting hillsides but nevertheless grow straight up…” She is believed to have written the story…

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Ticino’s Mediterranean flair

This content was published on Sun-seeking Swiss-Germans and Germans flock to the region in spring, summer and autumn, where many own flats or houses on lakes Maggiore and Lugano or have converted barns in the narrow valleys into holiday homes. The population of Ticino is concentrated around the lakes, which are well served by passenger ferries. Rising steeply from the…

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR