Montagnola is first mentioned in 1226. The merger of several formerly separate properties of the monastery of S. Abbondio in Como in 1535, led to the establishment of the Concilium Sancti Abundii which covered not only Gentilino but the village of Montagnola with the hamlets of Viglio, Orino, Arasio, Certenago, Poporino, Barca and Scairolo. An inventory of the monastery mentioned the presence of a fortress at Arasio. Montagnola belongs to the parish of S. Abbondio at Gentilino. The chapels in S. Silvestro in Arasio and SS Nazaro in Celso were first mentioned in 1270 and 1442 respectively. The local economy was based on agriculture as well as emigration of architects and builders from the Gilardi, Lucchini, Berra and Camuzzi families into various European countries, especially Russia. Several of these builders were able to create major works in these foreign cities and rise to great fame. The pleasant climate and attractive location of the village attracted many illustrious personalities from abroad including the writer Hermann Hesse. A museum to the writer opened in 1997. Between 1923-27 it was the seat of the prestigious Officina Bodoni, the printing shop of Hans Mardersteig. Since 1956, the village has been home to an international school, The American School In Switzerland, which, in 2014, has about 700 students of various nationalities. Because of its proximity to Lugano, Montagnola is now a kind of residential suburb of the city.
Location
The former municipality stretched over the central portion of the Collina d'Oro valley from the Bay of Agno to Pian Scairolo, and included a number of villages. The community includes a communal pre-primary school and a communal primary school. The American School In Switzerland is located in Montagnola. The La Biblioteca comunale di Collina d'Oro is located in Montagnola, in proximity to the communal school. The library opened in 1990.
Historic population
The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray id:darkgrey value:gray ImageSize = width:600 height:212 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:102 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:2100 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey unit:year increment:300 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:darkgrey unit:year increment:50 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark: align:center bar:1850 from:start till:551 text:"551" bar:1900 from:start till:678 text:"678" bar:1950 from:start till:930 text:"930" bar:1980 from:start till:1646 text:"1646" bar:2000 from:start till:2092 text:"2092"
