Malvaglia is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
In the settlement of Rongier, an ancient town on the Lukmanier road, a Roman coin hoard was found.
Above the village is also the remains of Casa dei pagani, a cave castle from the 11th-13th Centuries.
The current building, with St. Martin as the patron saint is from 1602 to 1603, but the bell tower is from the 13th Century.
[1] The local economy was dominated by agriculture, animal husbandry, vineyards.
In 2000 about one-third and one-half of the workers were employed in manufacturing and the services sectors, respectively.
[1] Malvaglia has an area, as of 1997[update], of 80.31 square kilometers (31.01 sq mi).
[2] The municipality was located in the Blenio district, on the left bank of the Brenno river.
Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian(90.3%), with German being second most common ( 4.7%) and French being third ( 2.8%).
[6] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Malvaglia is; 152 children or 11.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 122 teenagers or 9.3% are between 10 and 19.
[10] About 64% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).
[7] The historical population is given in the following table:[1] The Casa dei pagani (a cave castle) and the parish church of S. Martino with its ossuary and churchyard are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The village of Rongie/Orino and the Val Malvaglia region are both listed on the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites[14] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 35.25% of the vote.
In the federal election, a total of 642 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 55.4%.
[15] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 1,690 registered voters in Malvaglia, of which 823 or 48.7% voted.
[7] There were 498 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 34.1% of the workforce.
[18] From the 2000 census[update], 986 or 84.1% were Catholic, while 40 or 3.4% 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 upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields.