Maggia

Maggia may refer to:

Maggia (municipality)

Maggia is a municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

Maggia's municipal borders were created in 2004 when the previous municipalities of Maggia, Moghegno, Aurigeno, Giumaglio, Someo, and Lodano were united. The municipality contains roughly 2,400 inhabitants and its official language is Italian.

History

Maggia is first mentioned in 1200 as de madia. In 1225 it was mentioned as Madiis, 1270 Madia.

It was first recorded in 1270 as Madiis. This history contradicts a persistent legend about the history of the town's name. "Maggio", meaning "May" in Italian, was thought to be the source of Maggia's name as legend dictated that in this month settlers first arrived at the site.

Roman era graves have been discovered in Maggia.

Maggia broke away from the parish of S. Vittore in Murano in 1000, to form their own parish. The church in Maggia was the first parish church of the lower Maggia valley. It was the mother church of the other parishes that developed in the region in the following centuries. The current church of St. Mauritius was built in 1636. In 1855 the front facade was extended, followed in 1881 by a monumental staircase. The church was renovated in 1996-98. The Oratory of Madonna delle Grazie was built in 1510 on the site of an earlier chapel. It contains frescoes from around the construction and votive paintings by Giovanni Antonio Vanoni. In the Antrobio chapel there are frescoes from the 15th Century, which are among the oldest in the valley.

Maggia (comics)

The Maggia is a fictional international crime syndicate appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The organization exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as Earth 616 as well as other Marvel Earths/Universes. Its structure is somewhat similar to the Mafia (which is itself almost never referred to in Marvel stories), but the Maggia differs in that it frequently hires supervillains and mad scientists to work for them. The characters Count Nefaria and his daughter Madame Masque have both been leaders of an important Maggia family.

Comic creator Scott Shaw believes that the Maggia were created to avoid offending the real-life mafia, as comic book distribution at the time "was Mafia controlled", though it is just as likely they were created as it would be impossible to copyright the mafia.

Publication history

The Maggia debuted in Avengers #13 (February 1965), and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.

Fictional organization history