Municipal Historical Archive

• Business Hours:
  Monday-Friday:
  09:00 - 12:00
  14:00 - 17:00
   
• By appointment only.

• Free entrance.

In order to preserve the local historic memory, the Municipal Historical Archive (AS) was created in 1980 to classify all historic documentation produced by the City and its institutions in the course of the centuries, as well as those of the towns which recently joined Lugano.

Paper manuscript section
The collection (City Hall/ Patriziato/ St. Maria Hospital/ the ‘800 district Court) is organized in approximate 1'500 binders for a total of approximate 300 thousands writings. An additional of 127 parchments and approximate 1'450 handwritten books, that mostly date the contemporary age ('800 and beginning '900), some also to '700 and a few to previous centuries until '400.

Iconography and prints section
This section counts approx. 6'000 units comprising of lithographies and pictures (views, portraits), illustrated postcards, various prints (proclamations, encomiastic poems), geographic and topographic maps, plans and various drawings; with historic, costume, monumental and artistic subjects.

Library
Books and papers comprising of a total of 4'000 titles, mostly catalogued on-line in the SBT, have been acquired through legacies and donations (Morosini Negroni book shops, Carlo Battaglini, Paolo ed Ezio Somazzi, Rainis ed Aspazija) or via specific purchases (the current internal library and the Carlo Cattaneo library).

Publications and exhibitions
The main publication is the "Pagine storiche luganesi" series born in 1984 as a periodical volume for the study of the local origins; since 1995 the volumes – 19 to this day – have become monographic and constitute the catalogue of temporary exhibitions set up by AS in Villa Ciani (future residence for the Historical Museum).

Last modified 02 April 2013