Bellinzona

Three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro) hold the valley floor here, and have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000. The town lies east of the Ticino at the foot of the Alps, hemmed in by the southern Lepontine Alps on either side and the Lugano Prealps to the south. Gregory of Tours records the name in 590 as Belitio, and it is Lepontic in origin, possibly from a word for juniper. A local folk etymology prefers zona bellica, war zone, which the position rather invites.