Casino Campione d'Italia

Campione d'Italia is one of the world's most unusual political entities: an Italian municipality of roughly 2,000 residents entirely surrounded by the Swiss Canton of Ticino on the western shore of Lake Lugano. This anomalous status — Italian sovereignty, Swiss geography — has historically made Campione a fiscal and regulatory oddity. The casino was the economic engine that kept the tiny municipality solvent for much of the 20th century.

The current casino building, opened in 2007 and designed by architect Mario Botta, is a striking 1,400-room skyscraper that towers over the lakeside village in a way that is either magnificent or absurd depending on one's aesthetic sensibility. The casino floor offers a full range of table games, an extensive slot room, and poker facilities, with stunning views over Lake Lugano from the upper levels.

The casino was forced into temporary closure in 2018 following the municipality's bankruptcy — a direct consequence of the gambling revenue collapse after Switzerland introduced border controls — but has since reopened under new management. Its future remains linked to the unique and complex arrangements governing Campione d'Italia's extraordinary political status.