05 Parco della Pace (Peace Park)

Texts by Rodolfo Huber

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The public garden in which we find ourselves is located in a part of the city that was built at the beginning of the twentieth century after the channelization of the river and the reclamation of the marshes that until then characterized the large area that stretches from Piazza Grande to the mouth of the Maggia River.

Following the path along the lakefront from Muralto to the Maggia River, over the decades the Quai dedicated to Federal Councilor Giuseppe Motta, the landing place for the navigation boats, the new Locarno harbor, the Stadium, the Bathing Center, the Camellia Park, the Public Bath, and the small harbor at the Lanca degli Stornazzi were built. Thus a valuable recreation area was developed.

An important stage in the enhancement of the promenade was completed in 1965, the year of the fortieth anniversary of the 1925 Peace Conference. Thanks to a private donation and the support of Pro Locarno, i.e., the tourism promotion board, it was possible to fix up the public garden where we are located. And therefore, just to commemorate the historic event, it was decided to name this quiet and shady green area by the lake "Parco della Pace".

If we go further along the paths in the direction of the Lanca degli Stornazzi harbor, on the other side of the park, we can see a monument commemorating the genocide of the Assyrian people, who were Christians in Turkey, in 1915 during World War I.

Descendants of the "Assyrian-Suryoye" community have been coming to Canton Ticino since the mid-1970s immigrating to Switzerland from Turkey. The community identifies with the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The monument is the work of sculptor Kurt Schwager of Minusio and was unveiled on June 18, 2016.