CANTON TICINO (ITALIAN-SPEAKING SWITZERLAND)

A visual journey, guide, to Ticino, Switzerland's Italian-speaking canton illustrated with some 280 original photos. Latin in culture and Mediterranean in atmosphere it is unlike any place in Switzerland. Home to 350,000 inhabitants squeezed into 2,800 sqkm, it has scenic lakes and rivers; its mountains and rolling hills are crowded by skiers in winter, hikers and sunbathers in summer. Its valleys are like time capsules with jealously restored ancient villages punctuating green green pastures and woods. Ticino also has myriad cultural events from a non-mainstream international film festival at Locarno which the Variety defined '...one of the world's top half dozen fests...', jazz and classical music events, to world class art exhibitions. The regional capital, Bellinzona, is home to medieval castles whereas Lugano, the largest town in Ticino, flaunts a dynamic nightlife, fine examples of modern architecture and a wealth of cultural activities. Switzerland's best known and successful contemporary architect Mario Botta (the starchitect of San Fransisco's Museum of Modern Art, the cathedral of Evry in France, churches in Italy, a synagogue in Jerusalem) is in fact from Ticino and the whole canton is dispersed with his houses, civic buildings and churches. As an American ambassador on a visit to Ticino put it, "...these people live in a national park."