Locarno

Locarno stands on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore, beside the delta of the Maggia. Medieval noble families known as the capitanei held influence in the town, whose market rights were recorded under Emperor Frederick I. Its castle and lakeside position made Locarno a prize in struggles between Milanese rulers and the Swiss Confederates.

The Confederates occupied the town in 1503 and obtained its castle after the battle of Novara in 1513. During the Reformation a Protestant community formed around Giovanni Beccaria and other local figures. A public religious debate took place in 1549. In 1554 the Swiss Diet ordered its members to abandon their faith or leave; more than a hundred departed for Zürich in 1555. Locarno became part of the new canton of Ticino in 1803.