Dictionary:
Lo·car·no (lō-kär'nō)  |
A town of southern Switzerland at the northern end of Lake Maggiore. The Locarno Pact between Germany and various European powers was signed here in 1925, in an effort to promote peace and maintain existing territorial borders. Today the city is a popular resort. Population: 14,700.
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| Columbia Encyclopedia: Locarno |
| Dialing Code: The telephone dialing code for: Locarno, Switzerland |
The country code is: 41
The city code is: 91
| Wikipedia: Locarno |
| Locarno | ||||||||||
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| Population | 14,909 (December 2007[update]) | |||||||||
| - Density | 769 /km2 (1,990 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 19.4 km2 (7.5 sq mi) | |||||||||
| Elevation | 200 m (656 ft) | |||||||||
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| Postal code | 6600 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 5113 | |||||||||
| Mayor | Carla Speziali | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Contone, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Magadino, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Piazzogna, San Nazzaro, Tegna, Tenero-Contra | |||||||||
| Website | www.locarno.ch Profile (Italian), SFSO statistics |
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  Locarno
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Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore (Lago Maggiore) in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000[1] (60'000 for the urban area including Ascona). The official language of Locarno is Italian. It is the 74th biggest city in Switzerland by population.[citation needed]
An important film festival, the Locarno International Film Festival, takes place every year in August in the Piazza Grande.
The Locarno Treaties were negotiated here in 1925.
In January 2004, the Italian historian Marino Vigano speculated that Locarno's castle may have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci.
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Locarno has a number of interesting sights that draw tourists year-round.
The Astrovia Locarno is a 1 : 1,000,000,000 scale model of the Solar System. The Sun can be found at the end of Via Gioacchino Respini where the cycle path, which runs alongside the river, starts. Pluto, the final planet in the model, can be found 6 km away from this starting point in the village of Tegna.
The sanctuary of Madonna del Sasso in Orselina above the city is the principal sight and goal of pilgrimage in the city.
The founding of the sanctuary goes back to a vision of the Virgin Mary that the Franciscan brother Bartolomeo d'Ivrea experienced in the night of 14/15 August 1480. The interior is highly decorated, and a platform gives a magnificent view of the city.
A gondola runs from Orselina to the top of Cardada (el. 1,340 m (4,396 ft)), and a chair lift goes further to the top of Cimetta (el. 1,671 m (5,482 ft)).
Castello Visconteo on the edge of the old town was built in the 12th century, probably as the residence of a Captain Orelli, who remained true to the Emperor. In 1260, it fell into the hands of the Ghibellines. In 1342 the Visconti of Milan, for whom it is now named, attacked the castle from both the land and the lake side and took it. It first came into the hands of the Eidgenossen in 1503. Today, only a fifth of the original structure remains. Most of that dates from the 15th and 16th centuries. Only the foundation remains from the original structure.
 Weather averages for Locarno/Monti  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.1 (43) |
7.9 (46) |
11.9 (53) |
15.5 (60) |
19.2 (67) |
23.1 (74) |
25.9 (79) |
24.9 (77) |
21.4 (71) |
16.2 (61) |
10.3 (51) |
7.2 (45) |
15.8 (60) |
| Daily Mean °C (°F) | 2.6 (37) |
4.1 (39) |
7.4 (45) |
11 (52) |
14.5 (58) |
18.1 (65) |
20.8 (69) |
19.9 (68) |
16.8 (62) |
12 (54) |
6.7 (44) |
3.7 (39) |
11.5 (53) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 0.2 (32) |
1.2 (34) |
3.9 (39) |
7.2 (45) |
10.8 (51) |
14.1 (57) |
16.6 (62) |
16 (61) |
13.3 (56) |
9 (48) |
4.2 (40) |
1.2 (34) |
8.1 (47) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 73 (2.87) |
72 (2.83) |
104 (4.09) |
164 (6.46) |
194 (7.64) |
167 (6.57) |
165 (6.5) |
185 (7.28) |
191 (7.52) |
158 (6.22) |
135 (5.31) |
61 (2.4) |
1,668 (65.67) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 6 | 6.2 | 7.3 | 9.6 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 9.3 | 9.5 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 5.5 | 100.7 |
| Source: MeteoSchweiz [2] 8 May 2009 | |||||||||||||
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more |
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