Along the Ticino river road: merchants and goods through the Alps in the18th century

In the 18th century, the Ticino River was a fundamental route for goods and people. Over its course a lot of products were transported and smuggled. Ticino is the emissary of Lake Maggiore, which was known as an important trading floor, as Marina Cavallera and Alice Raviola have noted, and its connection to the Po River and Naviglio Grande was the primary link between Swiss and German territories and the plains of the state of Milan. One of the earliest testimonies to its commercial relevance was provided by Friar Paolo Moriggia in 1602, who wrote about the role of Ticino as a link between Lake Maggiore and Milan. Because of the position of this region, currently known as Regio Insubrica, and the numerous commercial routes that passed through it, a lot of merchants found their fortune. The link between the mountainous area and the plains can be studied to understand what goods were transferred and how they were transported; evidence shows that goods travelled from the plains to the mountains as well, and this movement involved people and workers in both directions. Environment has played a huge role in this route, not only because rivers like Ticino are heavily influenced by changes of the environmental conditions, such as floods and droughts which can change or block the communication, but also because it will be interesting to explore how human activities related to commerce have transformed the river and its ecosystem. In conclusion, it seems useful to study how this route has changed the perception of mountains and their distance from the plains. Using GIS technology all these studies can find a new interpretation and new way to display results.