San Nazzaro is a former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

In the hamlet of Taverna, there used to stand a tower, which had probably given by Frederick I Barbarossa in 1186 to the Orelli family.

The tower later passed into the possession of the nobility of Locarno and was used in the control of trade in the Upper Lake Maggiore and Gambarogno river areas.

In the 13th century, the Vicinanza meetings were held in the church square in Taverna.

In 1487, the Gambarogno became independent of Locarno, and San Nazzaro became the seat of the Podestà and the court.

The local economy was supplemented in the 15th century by emigration, mostly of bricklayers and builders, to Italy.

[2] San Nazzaro has an area, as of 1997[update], of 5.53 square kilometers (2.14 sq mi).

[3] The village is located in the Locarno district, east of Lake Maggiore.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian (69.7%), with German being second most common (24.8%) and French being third (1.4%).

[6] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in San Nazzaro is; 50 children or 7.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 62 teenagers or 8.9% are between 10 and 19.

[10] About 58.3% 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:[2] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 33.86% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 216 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 41.0%.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 512 registered voters in San Nazzaro, of which 265 or 51.8% voted.

[7] There were 253 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.9% of the workforce.

[7] As of 2009[update], there were 3 hotels in San Nazzaro with a total of 81 rooms and 184 beds.

[17] From the 2000 census[update], 430 or 67.1% were Roman Catholic, while 93 or 14.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

[18] The municipal library, Biblioteca comunale Gambarogno in San Nazzaro, opened in 2014.

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.