Maccagno
Maccagno is located on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, in the province of Varese, in Italy. The village with 2011 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) is divided into an upper district Maccagno superior and separated by the River Giona the right lakeside hamlet Maccagno inferior.
The name of the place, which was inhabited already in prehistoric and Roman times, is to come from the Latin " Maccus " which then " Macchi " was because the people with this surname were the largest group.
Around the year 1270 the name " Macagnio " prevailed. Secured records have survived since the year 926, in the Maccagno part of the fief of the "Four Valleys" was. Maccagno Inferiore, it wants a legend, took the Emperor Otto the Great during his Italian campaign against Berengario II hospitable and was raised in thanks to the free county. The place was awarded as fief to free Fazio and Robaconte Mandelli, which Otto wanted to thank you for the services rendered. This much is certain: In the year 1110 Henry IV confirmed the Count Ottone Mandelli as feudal lords, and in 1541 was Giacomo Mandelli of Charles V appointed Count of the Holy Roman Empire. He received the right to hold a market that today, after more than 450 years, every Wednesday meets the streets of five kilometers south Luino with life.
On July 18, 1622 something that should be remembered for a long time and changed the county sustained occurred. Ferdinand II gave the Count Giacomo the right to mint coins, and thus founded the Münzprägestelle of Maccagno. In the meantime, however, a law was introduced that prohibited the export of grain, source of a lively trade is sea. Thus, the market lost its importance in favor of other trade centers that were owned by the Borromeo. Maccagno made fierce resistance, but had to give up its autonomy and the powerful Milanese family subject in 1692: Giovanni Battista Mandelli, the last feudal lord, sold the fief to Count Carlo Borromeo. But Maccagno was lucky: The new men began in the early 18th century to build industrial plants by taking up the water power. Thus arose mills and sawmills, where the abundant larch and fir wood was extracted from the surrounding mountains. The industrious inhabitants devoted themselves to these early craft forms with great commitment and established companies that have now become industrial plants. Meanwhile, the work in the tourism sector is, however, the main occupation for people in the " fief ".
Maccagno has a several hundred meters long pebble beach with a good tourist infrastructure in the vicinity of the town center and a museum of modern art.