Repubblica e Cantone Ticino

Kanton Tessin


The Cantone Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland, bordering Italy's regions of Piedmont and Lombardy to the south. It surrounds the small Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia. The area is Italian speaking, but as Italian is the language with the least native speakers in Switzerland, and the Canton is dependand on tourism, so most inhabitants are multilingual, typically French, German, and English.

Most of the canton is composed of crystalline rocks of the central Alps. The center of the mountain range was lifted higher than the rims, and the sedimentary cover has been eroded almost completely. The crystalline rocks of the basement, mostly metamorphic rocks, are on the surface. The rocks are full of minerals and ores, so there are numerous (abandoned) mines. Without limestone there is no karstification and no caves. Caves are found at the southern tip of the canton, which belongs to the southern limestone Alps.

One of the caves we listed here is actually in Italy, the Grotta "dell'Orso" on Monte Generoso. However, the cave is only a few hundred meters from the Swiss border and it is accessed by a cog train from the Swiss side from Capolago. It would actually make more sense to list this cave for Ticino, that's why we added the link.