The Post Service

Until the end of the eighteenth century, correspondence was generally sent and delivered by couriers on horseback. They were often employed by private companies with state contracts. The first regular weekly service between Milan and Lucerne was organised in 1653 by Diego Maderni from Lugano and the journey took four days.   

The post office seemed to be one of those miraculous houses transported by the angels like the duomo of the Madonna di Loreto

Alexandre Dumas father 

It was not until the nineteenth century and the construction of surfaced roads along the Gotthard-Ceneri route that a quick and efficient postal service was established. A mail coach began to travel regularly in both directions between Chiasso and Flüelen in 1842.