Rivapiana

People rowed over to the Magadino valley to gather reeds – used as bedding for animals – and wood brought down during storms. Few families made a living from fishing because most of the fishing rights had been assigned to the neighbouring municipality of Muralto. Constant headwinds made this an arduous task for oarsmen – just like today, the ‘muscendro’ wind (from Monte Ceneri towards the lake) blew in the morning and the ‘inverna’ (from the lake towards the valley) in the evening.

During the 1930s, the cantonal authorities decided to merge the estates to create larger areas of agricultural land and a road network. This dramatic change was met with resistance from local people who had a sentimental attachment to their plots of land, memories of the sweat of their forefathers and feared being penalised by ending up with land worth less. During the fierce debate, the ‘Rüpianitt’ (the residents of Rivapiana) were nicknamed ‘Sicilians’: the protest was ironically presented as the creation of the Sicilian Republic with lots of banners by the artist Ugo Zaccheo.

Women went down to the lake to wash clothing which they carried home still wet in wicker baskets. The lake was once a place of hard toil – washing clothes in the lake during the winter is not quite as refreshing as enjoying a dip in August.