The funicular railway that connected Lanzo with Santa Margherita di Valsolda - and therefore the Intelvi Valley with Lake Lugano - was designed and built by the Santa Margherita funicular company in order to facilitate tourism. Inaugurated in September 1907, after the golden age of the Belle Epoque, the expansion of private motorisation led to such a decisive drop in passenger numbers that serious management problems arose, and eventually the funicular ran for the last time on the 19th September, 1977. You can still see two wagons (one at each terminus), the track and the steps of the stairway that flanked the route and which was used for maintenance (nowadays unuseable as many of them are missing).

The small village of Santa Margherita can now only be reached via the lake, which is why it has remained uninhabited; except for on the first Sunday of July, when every year the Valsolda society organises a party, bringing to life the streets of this ghost town and allowing the visitor to visit its sites of interest and have lunch by the lake.

For further information watch the video by TVS Televallassina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnY0FIJKa-A