Archivio storico

The Archivio storico (Historical Archive) of the City of Lugano, established in 1980 at Casa Cattaneo and relocated in 2019 to Palazzo Tosetti Riva (formerly the municipal building of Castagnola), houses over 1,000 linear meters of documents and ancient books, a climate-controlled chamber for the preservation of photographic negatives, and a spacious reading room.

The documentary collections, all dating prior to 1946, concern the districts of Besso, Brè-Aldesago, Castagnola-Cassarate-Ruvigliana, Centro, Loreto, and Molino Nuovo. They include records produced by the Patriziato of Lugano and the Municipal Administration, the collections of the Santa Maria Hospital, the District Court of Lugano, the former municipalities of Brè-Aldesago and Castagnola (merged with Lugano in 1972), and numerous private collections.

The iconographic section contains tens of thousands of items, including photographs, engravings, maps, architectural drawings, paintings, and original sketches.

Of particular interest is the collection of Lugano photographer Vincenzo Vicari (1911-2007), with more than 150,000 shots, and the works of artist Alfredo Veronesi (1880-1961).

The site also hosts a permanent exhibition dedicated to Latvian poets Rainis (1865-1929) and Aspazija (1865-1943), who lived in exile in Castagnola from 1906 to 1920.