Maraja

Train station Maroja Melano

The Maraja community is located on the eastern shore of Lake Lugano .

As of 1997, the area of ​​Maraji was 1 square kilometer. 20.0% of this territory was used for agricultural purposes, and its 58.0% were forests, mostly dense ^[3] .

The first mention of Maroji dates back to 962–966 ^[4] .

The territory of Maraji has been inhabited since the Iron Age . In 1906, the northern Etruscan inscription was discovered there, and in 1926 - a stele of the Roman era . The Lombard king Liutprand gave the village of the church of St. Carpoforo to Como in 724. She later moved to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Ambrose in Milan . In 1798, Maraja became part of the Republic of Riva San Vitale, which lasted only two weeks (from February 23 to March 16, 1798) ^[4] .

The village belonged to the parish church of Riva San Vitale until 1644, when it became an independent parish . The parish church of St. Peter was first mentioned in 1579, but was built in the early Middle Ages . The new temple building was built in 1640 and reconstructed in 1982-1983. On the foundation of the building of the XVI century in 1731-1766 the pilgrimage church of Madonna della Sintura was erected ^[4] .

Historically, locals made a living from fishing and charcoal making. The existing mill, which was fully automated in 2000, dates from the 19th century. At one time, a paper mill and a food processing plant operated in Maraja. In 1878, Romeo Manzoni opened a boarding school for girls, which was named after him. The school was sold in 1905, dedicated to St. Francis de Salsky , who founded Don Bosco College in its building. As of 2000, about 2/3 of the working population of Maraji were working outside the community. In 2005, more than half of the jobs in the municipality were in the industrial sector of the economy ^[4] .