A visit to a grotto is a highlight of any stay in Ticino. Enjoying local products and regional dishes under the spreading shade of the trees is an experience not to be missed. What stories could these celebrated stone structures tell?

For decades, the Katzensee near Zurich was used as a dumping ground for glass. A look into bottles from days gone by.

A drinking bowl from Stein am Rhein is among a trove of precious glass finds dating from the Roman era. The piece itself is spectacular, but the circumstances of its discovery are just as remarkable.

Why pigs are lucky charms, and why it was a stroke of luck the Bernese killed a bear on their hunt…

From 1914, the Schweizerische Käseunion (SKU, the Swiss Cheese Union) ensured people at home and abroad were kept supplied with Swiss cheese. For that purpose, the Cheese Union monitored both production and prices.

Until the Second World War, fondue was unheard of in most areas of Switzerland. The cheese speciality only became the ‘national dish’ as the result of a marketing campaign run by the Schweizerische Käseunion (Swiss Cheese Union).

In the 1970s the Volkswagen group launched a major agricultural project led by a Swiss citizen that resulted in bonded labour and rainforest deforestation on a massive scale.

Swiss cuisine doesn’t rank among the world’s elite. But the gadgets that make a cook’s life easier are truly a cut above. From the vegetable peeler to the garlic press, all these inventions come from Switzerland.