ill further east, outside the inhabited area at that time. The Griglioni built a small castle to protect a port. Parts of this castle still exist and have been integrated into modern buildings.
A church is first mentioned in 1264 and was originally consecrated only as the Church of S. Peter. The Church of SS Peter and Paul is first mentioned as a parish church in 1330, and in 1332 as a collegiate church. However, no documents exist which show the separation from the mother church of San Vittore in Muralto and thus the existence of an early medieval parish. The Church of S. Maria della Misericordia was built in 1399-1442. It contains one of the most extensive late Gothic fresco cycles in Switzerland.
Early Modern Ascona
In 1640/41, Ascona separated from Ronco and Castelletto. According to the statues adopted in the 14th Century, Ascona was represented by three people in the Council of the parish of Locarno. Under the Swiss Confederation, it was represented with two members, alternating every two years with those of Ronco. In 1428, Filippo Maria Visconti gave the villages the market right, which was renewed by the Confederates after the conquest of Locarno in 1513.
In 1580, Bartolomeo Papio, who had become wealthy in Rome, donated 25,000 Scudi to Ascona for the construction of a seminary as long as the work could be completed within three years. In October 1584 the school was finished. After negotiations with Charles Borromeo, the Archbishop of Milan and representatives of Pope Gregory XIII, it was decided to sell the originally planned Casa Papio and to build the Collegio Papio college next to the Church of S. Maria della Misericordia. This project ran from 1585 until 1592. In 1616, Cardinal Federico Borromeo, placed the school under the authority of the Congregation of the Oblate of Milan, which led the school until 1798.
The Church of SS Peter and Paul was enlarged in the 16th Century and in 1703, was elevated to have a
