Gravesano is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

[3] Gravesano also includes the hamlet of Grumo, that was home to a medieval castle that ruled over both villages as well as Manno and Bedano.

The castle, which was on the road from Ponte Tresa to Monte Ceneri Pass, was visited in 1004 by Emperor Henry II and later by Frederick Barbarossa during his Italy campaign in 1162.

The monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro of Pavia and the Bishop of Como both held property and rights in Gravesano.

The S. Pietro parish, which also included Manno and Bedano, was set up in 1609 in Gravesano.

[3] The former farming village of Gravesano has, in recent decades, seen a strong growth in the industrial, trade and services sectors.

This development was influenced by the inclusion of the municipality in the growing belt of suburbs around Lugano as well as the proximity to the A2 motorway and the Swiss Federal Railways tracks leading to the freight station of Bioggio.

[3] Gravesano has an area, as of 1997[update], of 0.69 square kilometers (0.27 sq mi).

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a sword downpointing argent hilted and pommed or between two keys of the second wards down and inwards.

The key and sword are the attributes of the patron saints of the church, St. Peter and St.

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Gravesano is; 128 children or 10.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 120 teenagers or 10.1% are between 10 and 19.

[8] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][13] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 32.27% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 370 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 47.8%.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 775 registered voters in Gravesano, of which 489 or 63.1% voted.

[8] From the 2000 census[update], 791 or 77.4% were Roman Catholic, while 81 or 7.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields.