Monte Verità

Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a hill standing 321 metres above sea level (1053 feet) and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The site is located in the municipality of Ascona, about half a kilometre (500 yards) north-west of the old town. Situated on Lake Maggiore, Monte Verità was a well-known meeting place for life-reformers (Lebensreformer), pacifists, artists, writers, and supporters of various alternative movements in the first decades of the 20th century. After 1940, the place lost its importance. An attempt at a revival in the late 1970s met with very limited success. Monte Verità was originally the name of the local "Nature Healing Sanctuary Sun Sanatorium" established on the hill Monte Monescia. This name first appeared in a brochure published in 1902. Shortly afterwards, the sanatorium settlement was renamed "Sanatorium Monte Verità".