The post-1500 era
The living conditions of the citizens of Bellinzona did not change
dramatically under the new rulers. The socioeconomic structures and
the local administrative bodies remained unaltered. The Milanese
functionaries were replaced by administrators from the founder cantons
but the latter, contrary to their predecessors, represented both
the civil and military authority. Under the Dukes of Milan, military
command and civil administration had been two separate bodies.
In 1503, Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden jointly set up a government mint
in the town to produce silver and gold coins; it was, however, transferred
to Altdorf in 1548.
On falling under the jurisdiction of the former enemy, namely the
confederates, Bellinzona's fortifications lost their strategic significance
and were not enlarged any further. The confederate bailiffs favoured
living in the town. In 1515 severe flooding the socalled «Buzza
di Biasca» destroyed a part of the city wall but no repairs
were carried out. The three castella, divided between the three sovereign
cantons, (hence the names Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden) in 1506, were
occupied by castellans from Central Switzerland together with a few
infantry soldiers, charged with keeping public order and other police
duties. In the event of war breaking out which was never the case
garrisons of between 60 and 80 soldiers were allotted to each castle
and, it would dppear, equipped with antiquated artillery.
In 1803, when Ticino became an independent canton, the three castles
became the property of the new «State». Montebello and
Sasso Corbaro fell into neglect and around 1900 were both in a serious
state of disrepair as were the city and castle walls. From 1813,
Castelgrande housed the arsenal and, from about 1820, the cantonal
penitentiary. When, after 1850, the young Swiss Federal State undertook
the creation of a line of fortifications along the St. Gotthard axis
as a demonstration of its wish to defend the region, a fortified
barrage, architecturally designed to resemble the medieval model,
was built near Sementina. This wall, along with the much earlier
structures built to ensure provisioning and the safe passage of supplies,
eventually became part of the Castelgrande complex. In 1881, the
Government tried in vain to sell Castelgrande but no buyers came
forward.
The first efforts to prevent the complete dilapidation of the huge
defensive monument were made shortly after 1900, but the first major
restoration and consolidation work, directed by the architects C.
WEITH and M. ALIOTH, was undertaken in the years between 1920 and
1955. Further restoration work to safeguard the future of the monument
was carried out by the architect A. GALFETTI and completed in 1992.
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