Swiss Highlights

Ticino village · Leventina

Giornico

A village of the Leventina crossed by the Ticino, where the river parts around an island linked to the town by two medieval bridges.

Derivative illustration produced by Swiss Highlights from a freely licensed photograph.

← Back to explore

Translated during an AI-assisted second-pass review — not yet validated by a native-speaking editor.

Giornico lies on the floor of the Leventina, the valley by which the Ticino comes down from the Gotthard towards Bellinzona. The river crosses the built-up area and parts around a natural island, the island of Giornico, which two medieval bridges attach to the town. All the traffic of the valley passes at the edge of the village: the A2 motorway, which links the Gotthard road tunnel to Bellinzona and Como, runs along the commune; the Gotthard railway tunnel opened in 1881, and the base tunnel in 2016.

The built heritage to see comes down to two objects that have nothing in common. On one side, the chapel of Santa Maria del Castello. On the other, the La Congiunta museum, the essential part of which is a modern building by the architect Peter Märkli: it houses nothing but the reliefs and sculptures of Hans Josephsohn, made between 1950 and 1991. Giornico, moreover, is no longer a commune — on 26 November 2023 its inhabitants approved by vote the attachment of their territory to that of Bodio, effective on 6 April 2025.

Why this place is remarkable

Two things set Giornico apart, and they do not resemble each other. The first is an island: crossing the village, the Ticino divides around a bank of land that two medieval bridges still link to the shores. The second is a museum built for a single artist — La Congiunta, the work of Peter Märkli, where the reliefs and sculptures Hans Josephsohn made between 1950 and 1991 are gathered.

What to do and see

  • Cross to the natural island of the Ticino by the two medieval bridges that link it to the town.
  • Visit the chapel of Santa Maria del Castello.
  • Discover the La Congiunta museum, a modern building by architect Peter Märkli housing the reliefs and sculptures of Hans Josephsohn made between 1950 and 1991.

As a couple

  • Cross together the two medieval bridges leading to the island where the Ticino splits to skirt the village.
  • Stop at the La Congiunta museum, designed by Peter Märkli for the works of Hans Josephsohn.
  • Visit the chapel of Santa Maria del Castello, a stone's throw from the island.

Location

Loads an interactive Google Maps view on demand, from the place's verified coordinates.

Open in Google Maps

Related places

The church of Soazza overlooks the village from its grassy spur, at the top of a stone staircase; in the foreground, a structure of metal beams stands in the grass, between wooded slopes and a clear sky.

Mesolcina village · Grisons · 27 km as the crow flies

Soazza

324 inhabitants on 46.4 km², more than half of it forest, a church with a striped bell tower on its spur, a frescoed hospice: Soazza holds the hinge between upper and lower Mesolcina.

View on the map (Graubünden)

The Ascona lakefront seen from a jetty: a row of yellow, red, blue and pink houses lining the Piazza Motta, the bell tower of the Santi Pietro e Paolo church in the center, a palm tree on the left, and the mountains of Lake Maggiore in the background.

Lakeside town · Ticino · 29 km as the crow flies

Ascona

A row of painted houses closes the square that opens onto the lake, behind the campanile of Santi Pietro e Paolo. On the hill stand the light-and-air huts of 1901-1902 and the hotel of 1926-1928.

View on the map (Ticino)

The pass basin during the snowmelt: in the foreground a broad patch of snow and brown granite slabs, in the centre the pass lake still partly covered with ice, on the far shore a cluster of buildings — a dark structure on the left, a long pink building, another yellow one — and, all around, snow-capped ridges under a deep blue sky; on the right, the pass road runs along the embankment.

Alpine pass · Uri – Ticino · 29 km as the crow flies

Gotthard Pass

Opened around 1220, the crossing linked the Po plain to northern Europe and weighed on the beginnings of the Confederation. A hospice recorded from 1237, the old cobbled Tremola road, the Sasso da Pigna fort turned museum.

View on the map (Ticino)