Claro, Switzerland

Gnosca is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Camorino, Claro, Giubiasco, Gorduno, Gudo, Moleno, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Preonzo, Sant'Antonio and Sementina merged into the municipality of Bellinzona.

The Gnosca Observatory (Italian: Osservatorio Astronomico di Gnosca; code: 143) is an astronomical observatory at Gnosca, Ticino, Switzerland. It is owned and operated by amateur astronomer Stefano Sposetti and has the observatory code 143. At Gnosca Observatory, Stefano Sposetti has discovered numerous minor planets (also see Category:Discoveries by Stefano Sposetti).

Claro Abbey (Italian: Monastero di Santa Maria Assunta supra Claro) is a Benedictine community of nuns, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, situated twenty minutes by foot to the east of the village of Claro in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland.

Moleno is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Camorino, Claro, Giubiasco, Gnosca, Gorduno, Gudo, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Preonzo, Sant'Antonio and Sementina merged into the municipality of Bellinzona.

Preonzo is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017, the former municipalities of Camorino, Claro, Giubiasco, Gnosca, Gorduno, Moleno, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Sant'Antonio and Sementina merged into the municipality of Bellinzona.

Dreamtime is a 10-metre (33 ft) long gneiss bouldering route in a forest in Cresciano, Switzerland. When first solved in October 2000 by Swiss bouldering pioneer Fred Nicole, it was graded at 8C (V15), making it the world's first-ever boulder route at that grade. With subsequent repeat ascents, it was regraded to 8B+ (V14), but after the breaking of a key hold in 2009, its grade is now considered closer to 8C (V15). Dreamtime is the most notable bouldering route in climbing history along with Midnight Lightning, and is renowned for both its beauty and its challenge.

Castione-Arbedo railway station is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Ticino and municipality of Arbedo-Castione. The station is on the Swiss Federal Railways Gotthard railway, between Biasca and Bellinzona. From 1907, Castione-Arbedo station was the principal interchange point between the Gotthard railway and the Bellinzona–Mesocco railway (BM), a metre gauge railway linking Bellinzona and various communities in the Val Mesolcina as far as Mesocco. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1972, and to freight traffic in 2003, but the section north as far as Cama, operated as the Ferrovia Mesolcinese tourist line until its final closure in 2013.

Gorduno is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Camorino, Claro, Giubiasco, Gnosca, Gudo, Moleno, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Preonzo, Sant'Antonio and Sementina merged into the municipality of Bellinzona.

Cresciano is a former municipality in the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Iragna, Lodrino and Osogna merged into the new municipality of Riviera.

The Moesa is a 47-kilometre (29 mi) river, a tributary of the Ticino, which flows through the Swiss cantons of Grisons and Ticino. It rises in Val Vignun near the San Bernardino Pass and descends, along with the A13 motorway, through the Val Mesolcina towards Roveredo, where it receives the rivers Calancasca and Traversagna. Near Arbedo-Castione the Moesa flows into the Ticino. The Moesa is a popular river for kayaking.

The Battle of Arbedo was fought on 30 June 1422 between the Duchy of Milan and the Swiss Confederation, and ended with a Milanese victory. In 1419, the Swiss cantons of Uri and Unterwalden bought the fortified town of Bellinzona from the House of Sax but were unable to defend it adequately. When they rejected a Milanese proposal to purchase Bellinzona in 1422, a Milanese force under the command of the condottiero Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola attacked and defeated the Swiss garrison and occupied the town. A Swiss attempt to recapture Bellinzona with the support of other cantons including Lucerne and Zug led to the battle at the village of Arbedo, 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the town. The Swiss were mainly equipped with halberds and were initially successful in repelling two Milanese cavalry charges. Carmagnola then brought up his crossbowmen on the Swiss flanks and ordered his men-at-arms to dismount and fight on foot with their lances, which outreached the halberds. The Milanese forced the Swiss back onto a nearby hill, but the appearance of a band of foragers, whom the Milanese mistakenly thought were reinforcements, saved the Swiss from total defeat. When the Milanese force pulled back to reform, the Swiss withdrew from the battlefield, both sides having taken heavy casualties. In a historiographical tradition of Zug, the bearer of the cantonal banner, Peter Kälin, was slain, and the banner was taken up by his son, who was slain in his turn. The banner was saved by one Hans Landwing, and was later lost against the French. The victory secured Bellinzona and the Leventina for the Duchy. In addition, the Duchy regained the Val d'Ossola, thus the Swiss lost all their territorial gains. The defeat discouraged Swiss expansion towards Lake Maggiore for a long time. However, it was this defeat at Arbedo that led to the Swiss increasing the number of pikemen in their armies.

Arbedo-Castione is a municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.