Monteggio is a former municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 18 April 2021 the municipalities of Croglio, Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Sessa merged to form Tresa.
History
Monteggio is first mentioned in 1466 as da Montegio. Until 1819 the current village core was called Albio. The name comes from the fortified seat of the Capitanei of Sessa, the ruins of which are on the site of the Chapel of S. Adalberto (first mentioned in 1428) located in Castello. During the Middle Ages the history of Monteggio was closely connected to the Sessa family. The communities in the Valley of Tresa (Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Croglio) were given special privileges, because they had special military and defensive obligations. The tax exemptions granted in the 14th century by the Duke of Milan were reconfirmed in 1513 by the Swiss Confederation.
Religiously, Monteggio belongs to the parish of Sessa.
In the past, many industries operated in Monteggio, including; brickworks, mills, hammer mills, fishing and a sawmill. By the middle of the 19th century, peat was cut near the village and there was a foundry. In the past few decades, various commercial and industrial enterprises have settled in the municipality.
Geography
Monteggio had an area, , of . Of this area, or 40.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 48.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 19.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.7% is either rivers or lakes and or 2.1% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 13.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.1% of the area Out of the forested land, 43.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 22.9% is used for growing crops, while 4.2% is used for orchards or vine crops and 13.4% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, all of it is unproductive vegetation.
The former municipality is located in the Lugano district, in the lower Malcantone valley on the Italian border. It is broken up into 26 sections or settlements including Brusata, Castello, Fornasette, Lisora, Molinazzo and Ponte Cremenaga.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per saltire gules and sable and in a chief or an eagle displayed sable.
Demographics
Monteggio had a population (as of 2019) of 849. , 16.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 11%.
Most of the population () speaks Italian (79.6%), with German being second most common (14.5%) and French being third (2.4%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 114 speak German, 19 people speak French, 624 people speak Italian. The remainder (27 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 357 Swiss men (40.2% of the population), and 77 (8.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 377 Swiss women (42.4%), and 78 (8.8%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 7 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 5 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 2 while the foreign population decreased by 1. There was 1 Swiss man and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 3 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 1 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. This represents a population growth rate of 0.1%.
The age distribution, , in Monteggio is; 82 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 77 teenagers or 8.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 65 people or 7.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 132 people or 14.8% are between 30 and 39, 143 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 113 people or 12.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 152 people or 17.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 86 people or 9.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 39 people or 4.4% who are over 80.