Maccagno is the only town on the Lake Maggiore to be divided in two parts: Inferiore and Superiore (Lower and Upper). This is due to the natural divide created by the Giona River and to the slight difference in terms of altitude the names originated from. One part is north of the river, at the foot of Veddasca Valley. Its position makes it, in fact, a sort of natural gate to the valley. The other part is south of the river and surrounds a gulf protected from the wind, almost as a natural harbor. This geographical separation brought with it different fates...Lower Maccagno was an imperial fief for centuries, maybe since as far back as the thirteenth century. Almost until the 1800's, the Mandellis - from the castle that even today overlooks the ancient town - dominated the imperial fief, which benefited from special administrative concessions. The family defended the privileges they had obtained until the fief was finally handed over to the Borromeos. Upper Maccagno experienced the same destiny as the territory around Luino. It was included in the "Fief of the Four Valleys" under Luino and was ruled by various families for brief periods, until the more stable dominations of the Marlianis (from 1583 to 1773) and Crivellis (from 1773; the fief concept eventually faded into governmental structures). Maccagno Inferiore (Lower) was one of the many royal courts that at the end of the first millenium were scattered all over the northern basin in the Verbano area. Among these was Cannobio, which probably taxed the surrounding territories, including Maccagno. The Cannobio court, however, started crumbling into pieces as of the ninth century. At that point the De Mandellos appeared on the political scene, though they had been politically active since the end of the twelfth century. They obtained imperial concession of the town (around 1210) by Ottone IV, who in that period was fairly prone to grant privileges to the Mandellis in order to convince them to abandon their anti-imperial ideas and draw them into the Emperor's party. Besides, it was in the Emperor's interest to keep control on the lakes region, as it was the only way from the plain to the Alps. When the last of the Mandellis who ruled Maccagno - Giovanni - died without children who could have inherited the fief, another part of the family managed to win the auction for it. The Mandellis gave Maccagno some peace and prosperity, as they managed to obtain exemption from the taxes imposed by Milan, the right to hold a market given by the emperor himself in Genova in November 1536, and the right to coin granted by the emperor as of the 1630's. In 1692 Maccagno Inferiore became a property of the Borromeos, but it took little more than a century for Napoleon to take over the territory, not a big deal for somebody who had overthrown entire states and institutions. Imperial Maccagno found itself being administered by Maccagno Superiore, which hosted the town hall mainly thanks to its wider territory. In the seventeenth century Maccagno Inferiore was the only town on the Lake Maggiore that had its own mint. The upper part of the town had a less enthusing history. Its economy, based on mills, on the first manufacturers of nails and later - oddly enough - playing cards, was made more of isolated episodes than consistent development. The market was moving towards other areas, especially that of Luino. The land, however, yielded more than enough; in fact, during the first half of the eighteenth century the agricultural production of Maccagno Superiore was the largest of the whole Valtravaglia, especially thanks to its vineyards that grew on the sunny slopes of the Veddasca valley. The steep terraces built in order to turn parts of the mountain into cultivable land changed the landscape dramatically; grapes, olives, fruits and nuts were grown here. Chestnuts were the core of local cooking and were also exported all the way to Milan. The lake was used to move from place to place for trading and much less to fish. The Giona River wasn't navigable, but it was used to carry the wood cut in the valley to the lake. From here the wood was sent to Milan and Pavia. The Giona River also fed the mills and gave water for the fields. All this wasn't enough, though; over the centuries it became necessary to move from the most isolated areas of the Veddasca Valley. To do this, people came up with a profession they had never done before: they became bricklayers. Valtravaglia was the source of innumerable workers - bricklayers, master builders, woodworkers, stucco workers, and many more. These jobs were passed from generation to generation, and sometimes real talents emerged. Maccagno was also the birthplace of one of most important neoclassic architects in Italy: Ferdinando Ausano Caronesi. Caronesi was born in 1794, his father was a master builder called Antonio Bolognini whose cousins were bricklayers (Ferdinando and Andrea, both from Veddo). His career was recognized both when he was alive and recently by critics. Some of his works can be found also in his native town, as emigrants tended to come back to their hometowns during winter, when the worksites were they'd been working closed temporarily. The money they'd made in other towns and cities got therefore redistributed into their own towns, and so was the knowledge they had earned while living in the pulsating heart of big cities. Very often they left part of their fortunes to churches, schools, and public services, and shared their experience by working in the local worksites - churches, mainly. Maccagno wasn't involved in the faster and faster process of industrialization in which other towns in Valtravaglia such as Luino and Germignaga were. The road that connected Luino to Maccagno and on to the Swiss border was only finished in 1914; this plus the fact that the few flat areas of land were used for crops and for the first big villas made foreign investors neglect Maccagno. Foreign monies would have allowed industries to grow, but that just didn't happen. There were a few exceptions, though. At one point, tourists had started visiting Maccagno, but it was only decades later - when the Gottardo railway (1882) was built - that tourists really started to flow to Maccagno. Many villas, some of them very luxurious, framed the town with their lush parks, especially in Maccagno Inferiore. Most of the tourists were from Milan, even if many of their families had their roots in this area or had married people from Maccagno. Ada Negri loved these quiet places and could frequently be found walking at the Bruganten oratory built in the eighteenth century in Veddo, where she had a house. A certain belle époque taste spread around the town; liberty style decorations adorned the not-exactly luxurious hotels' dining rooms and music halls. Pediments, women's heads reproductions, and cement flowers decorated some houses. Some people thought that the mountains could be exploited to attract tourists, too. Projects were made to build hotels and restaurants, as well as huge cableways. Nothing came out of those projects, though, and the mountains remained intact, just like they are even today, a precious source of local products and a just as precious resource for tourists, who have now changed their needs and tastes and can therefore appreciate the beautiful nature in this area. From the end of the nineteenth century, one of the protagonists of the holiday seasons in Maccagno was Marchesa Camilla Margherita di Montesquieu Trombetti. Mystery enshrouds her origins.. Her villa was on the promontory of Ronco Scigolino, north of the town. Here she studied letters; after ethnographical studies she dedicated herself - in delicate balance between fantasy and weirdness - to collecting local legends and myths. She came up with the story of an ancient benedictine convent that was once where her villa now stands, a convent that occasionally hosted illustrious pilgrims, such as the King of Denmark. A romantic halo surrounds her. Still, she undoubtedly has the merit of not having contented herself with pleasant stays on the lake, but to have explored the history of the territory where she lived, making it even more folkloristic thru her charismatic personality. They say that the King of Belgium had an affair with her and was often seen in her villa. After the war, the large parks of all the villas were split into smallest lots where foreign tourists built their small holiday houses. This proliferation of homes physically linked Maccagno Inferiore to Maccagno Superiore. Recently a promenade was built that runs along the estuary mouth of the Giona River to the modern art museum that crosses the river as a bridge. The museum is also a cultural bridge that connects the two halves of the town, offering first-rate exhibits in a daring structure designed by architect Maurizio Sacripanti who, in 1990, won the In/Arch prize for it. It is a bridge that connects two different cultures, that unites while respecting the individuality of two villages, just like Maccagno - which used to be Imperial and royal, and now is Inferiore and Superiore - preserves a wealth of people and history.

Taken from "Invito a Maccagno" by Federico Crimi.