Spruga

Spruga (Onsernone)
Spruga village, as seen from the east
Spruga village, as seen from the east
Location of Spruga (Onsernone)
Map
Spruga (Onsernone) is located in Switzerland
Spruga (Onsernone)
Spruga (Onsernone)
Spruga (Onsernone) is located in Canton of Ticino
Spruga (Onsernone)
Spruga (Onsernone)
Coordinates: 46°12′3.2328″N 8°34′6.5418″E / 46.200898000°N 8.568483833°E / 46.200898000; 8.568483833
CountrySwitzerland
CantonTicino
DistrictLocarno
Elevation
1,390 m (4,560 ft)
Population
 (December 2000)
 • Total53
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
6663
ISO 3166 codeCH-TI
Surrounded byBorgnone, Craveggia (IT-VB), Gresso, Isorno, Maggia, Mosogno, Re (IT-VB), Vergeletto
Websiteonsernone.ch

Spruga (La Sprüga in Ticinese dialect,[1] Sprugg in Swiss German[2]) is a village in the Swiss municipality of Onsernone, in the district of Locarno, in the canton of Ticino. It lies on the sunny, south-facing slopes above the Isorno river on the border of Italy. The first recorded mention of Spruga goes back to the year 1285.[3][4] Spruga is the last village on the sole road through the Onsernone Valley as well as the nearest settlement to the old thermal baths at Bagni di Craveggia where a 6-story hotel, now in ruins but open to the public, was built in 1819. In the 19th century, visitors to the baths had to take an 8-hour carriage ride from Locarno to Comologno and then walk the last three to four kilometers on a dirt trail through Spruga with their luggage on mules or carried by locals. Mail service was brought into and from the Onsernone Valley on foot to Loco, where mail was then distributed and collected.

An upgraded road to Comologno was built between 1898 and 1900. Since 1932, when the old foot- and mule path between Spruga and Comologno was upgraded to a road,[5] Spruga has been tied into Switzerland's extensive public transit system by PostBus Switzerland which offers connections from morning until late evening as well as providing mail service. The large Post buses have become a key feature of the region and a tourist attraction in their own right, as they traverse up and down the valley's narrow, winding road, honking their vintage-sounding horn to warn cars and pedestrians of their approach, often passing through villages with only centimeters of clearance from buildings on either side.

An old, colorized photograph of Spruga from 1940 with handwritten notes at bottom in German
Spruga village street. Historic (1940) photo by Leo Wehrli
  1. ^ La Sprüga Ottavio Lurati Nomi di luoghi e famiglie e i loro perché?... Lombardia-Svizzera-Piemonte, Varese, Pietro Macchione ec., 2011
  2. ^ https://en.wikipedia.orgview_html.php?sq=&lang=&q=List_of_German_place_names_for_places_in_Switzerland
  3. ^ Elfi Rüsch: Distretto di Locarno IV. Hrsg. von der Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte. Bern 2013, ISBN 978-3-03797-084-3, S. 284–290.
  4. ^ Lindoro Regolatti: Il Comune di Onsernone – Ordinamento civile delle cinque antiche Squadre. Mazzuconi, Lugano, 1934, S. 125–132.
  5. ^ Angelo Del Boca: Il mio Novecento. Neri Pozza, Vicenza 2008, ISBN 978-88-545-0271-0, S. 14–18.