LUDWIGSLUST, a town of Germany, in the grand-duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 22 m. by rail S. by E. of Schwerin. Pop. (1905) 6728. The castle was built by the duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick II., in 1772-1776. There is also another ducal residence, a fine park and a monument of the grand duke, Frederick Francis I. (d. 1837). The town has a church constructed on the model of a Greek temple. It has manufactures of chemicals and other small industries. Ludwigslust was founded by the duke Frederick, being named after this duke’s father, Christian Louis II. It became a town in 1876.
LUG, a verb meaning to pull a heavy object, to drag, now mainly used colloquially. It is probably Scandinavian in origin; the Swedish lugg, forelock, lock of hair, gives lugga, to pull, tug; and “lug” in some north-eastern English dialects is still chiefly used in the sense of pulling a person’s hair. “Luggage,” passengers’ baggage, means by origin that which has to be “lugged” about. The Scandinavian word may be also the source of “lug,” in the sense of “ear,” in Scotland the regular dialectical word, and in English commonly applied to the ear-shaped handles of metal or earthenware pots, pitchers, &c. If so the word means something that can be pulled or tugged. This is also possibly the origin of the “lug” or “lug-sail,” a four-sided sail attached to a yard which is hung obliquely to the mast, whence probably the name “lugger” of a sailing-vessel with two or three masts and fore and aft lug-sails. The word may, however, be connected with the Dutch logger, a fishing-boat using drag-nets. “Lug” is also the name of a marine worm, Arenicola marina, used as bait.
LUGANO (Ger. Lauis), the most populous and most thriving town in the Swiss canton of Ticino or Tessin, situated (906 ft.) on the northern shore of the lake of Lugano. Pop. (1900) 9394, almost all Italian-speaking and Romanists. To the S. it is dominated by the Monte Salvatore (3004 ft.) and on the S.E. (across the lake) by the Monte Generoso (5591 ft.)—a magnificent view point. Both mountains are accessible by railways. By rail Lugano is 124 m. from Lucerne and 51½ m. from Milan. Situated on the main St Gotthard railway line, Lugano is now easily reached, so that it is much frequented by visitors (largely German) in spring and in autumn. Though politically Swiss since 1512, Lugano is thoroughly Italian in appearance and character. Of recent years many improvements have been made in the town, which has two important suburbs—Paradiso to the south and Cassarate to the east. The railway station (1109 ft.) is above the town, and is connected with the fine quays by a funicular railway. On the main quay is a statue of William Tell by the sculptor Vincenzo Vela (1820-1891), a native of the town, while other works by him are in the gardens of private villas in the neighbourhood. The principal church, San Lorenzo, in part dates back earlier than the 15th century, while its richly sculptured façade bears the figures 1517. This church is now the cathedral church of the bishop of Lugano, a see erected in 1888, with jurisdiction over the Italian parts of Switzerland. The church of Santa Maria degli Angioli, built about 1499, and till 1848 occupied by Franciscans, contains several very fine frescoes (particularly a Crucifixion) painted 1529-1530 by Bernardino Luini. A gallery containing modern pictures has been built on the site of the old palace of the bishops of Como. During the struggle of 1848-1866 to expel the Austrians from Lombardy, Lugano served as headquarters for Mazzini and his followers. Books and tracts intended for distribution in Italy were produced there and at Capolago (9 m. distant, at the S.E. end of the lake), and the efforts of the Austrian police to prevent their circulation were completely powerless.
(W. A. B. C.)
LUGANO, LAKE OF (also called Ceresio), one of the smaller lakes in Lombardy, N. Italy, lying between Lago Maggiore (W.) and the Lake of Como (E). It is of very irregular shape, the great promontory of Monte Salvatore (3004 ft.) nearly cutting off the western arm from the main lake. The whole lake has an area of 19½ sq. m., its greatest length is about 22 m., its greatest width 2 m., and its greatest depth 945 ft., while its surface is 899 ft. above sea-level. Between Melide (S. of the town of Lugano) and Maroggia (on the east shore) the lake is so shallow that a great stone dam has been built across for the St Gotthard railway line and the carriage road. The chief town is Lugano (at its northern end), which by the St Gotthard line is 19 m. from Bellinzona and 9 m. from Capolago, the station at the south-eastern extremity of the lake, which is but 8 m. by rail from Como. At the south-western extremity a railway leads S.W. from Porto Ceresio to Varese (9 m.). Porlezza, at the east end of the lake, is 8 m. by rail from Menaggio on the Lake of Como, while Ponte Tresa, at the west end of the lake, is about the same distance by a steam tramway from Luino on Lago Maggiore. Of the total area of the lake, about 7½ sq. m. are in the Swiss Canton of Ticino (Tessin), formed in 1803 out of the conquests made by the Swiss from the Milanese in 1512. The remainder of the area is in Italy. The lake lies among the outer spurs of the Alps that divide the Ticino (Tessin) basin from that of the Adda, where the calcareous strata have been disturbed by the intrusion of porphyry and other igneous rocks. It is not connected with any considerable valley, but is fed by numerous torrents issuing from short glens in the surrounding mountains, while it is drained by the Tresa, an unimportant stream flowing into Lago Maggiore. The first steamer was placed on the lake in 1856.
(W. A. B. C.)