Ligornetto is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 14 April 2013 the former municipalities of Besazio, Ligornetto and Meride merged into the municipality of Mendrisio.
History
Ligornetto is first mentioned in 789 as Logurno.
Roman era remains show that Ligornetto has been inhabited since ancient times. The village is mentioned in documents from the 8th, 9th, 12th and 13th centuries. The latter documents are in connection with farms and land that various institutions in Como owned in Ligornetto. It is mentioned in 1254 as a municipality.
Originally belonging to the Pieve of Balerna, in 1557 Ligornetto became an independent parish. The parish church of San Lorenzo has existed since the 13th century and was rebuilt in the 18th century. The modern Oratory of St. Joseph was mentioned in 844. It was originally consecrated to St. Maria.
In 1898, a museum dedicated to Vincenzo Vela opened in Ligornetto. The Swiss sculptor was originally from Ligornetto, and after his death, he left a bequest to his home town.
Traditionally, it was a small agricultural village that produced mainly grain and wine as well as silkworms and stone from a quarry. Other income came from the seasonal emigration of plasterers and masons. In recent decades, the village's character has been changing with the industrial expansion and an increasing number of cross-border workers. The population growth has led to construction of a number of new houses.
Geography
Before the merger, Ligornetto had a total area of . Of this area, or 58.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 22.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 35.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 1.5% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 17.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 10.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 3.5% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.0%. Out of the forested land, 16.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 28.7% is used for growing crops, while 12.4% is used for orchards or vine crops and 17.8% is used for alpine pastures.
The former municipality is located in the Mendrisio district, near the Italian border.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per bend gules and azure a bend argent between two corn ears or.
Demographics
Ligornetto had a population (as of 2011) of 1,716. , 15.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 18.2%.
Most of the population () speaks Italian (90.1%), with German being second most common (5.0%) and French being third (2.3%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 70 speak German, 32 people speak French, 1,268 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The remainder (37 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The population was made up of 688 Swiss men (40.4% of the population), and 148 (8.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 762 Swiss women (44.8%), and 104 (6.1%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 20 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 7 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 13 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 8 non-Swiss men and 5 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 15 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 31 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.8%.
The age distribution, , in Ligornetto is; 175 children or 10.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 192 teenagers or 11.3% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 180 people or 10.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 242 people or 14.2% are between 30 and 39, 314 people or 18.4% are between 40 and 49, and 228 people or 13.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 178 people or 10.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 108 people or 6.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 85 people or 5.0% who are over 80.