Ascona Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Ascona Parish, Ticino, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
As of 1997, Arbedo-Castione has an area of 21.28 square kilometers (8.22 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Bellinzona district on the left bank of the Moesa river near the confluence with the Tessin river, south of Piz de Molinera. It includes the villages of Arbedo and Castione.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 6.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 77.6% - forested
 * 8.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.8% - rivers or lake
 * 4.0% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Arbedo-Castione was in 1195 as Arano. The next mention of Arbedo-Castione was in 1237 as Castillionum.

The population history of Arbedo-Castione is: 1599 - 269 inhabitants 1801 - 356 inhabitants 1850 - 286 inhabitants 1900 - 261 inhabitants 1950 - 183 inhabitants 1960 - 142 inhabitants 2000 - 267 inhabitants

There is one tomb from San Paolo and six tombs from the 7th century AD from Castione that are known, one of them with a gold coin of the Lombard king Agilulf. They surrounded the original little church of San Paolo and indicate the presence of Lombard families, who perhaps caused the construction of a first family chapel. The building is near the Castrum of Bellinzona, where the Lombards established themselves in 590. It was built right next to the old and main communication route that led from Castelseprio near Varese via Monte Ceneri to the Lukmanier Pass. Arbedo therefore had significant importance throughout the Middle Ages and beyond as a transit point on an axis that led to the valleys of the most important central Alps. The natural boundaries of the municipality, marked by the courses of the Moesa and Ticino rivers strengthened the strategic position of the municipality as the northern gateway to the Bellinzona area, which often made Arbedo and its surroundings the scene of military conflicts. Apart from the famous Battle of Arbedo in 1422, a battle took place in Castione in 1449, in the course of which the condottiere Giovanni della Noce burned down the town and thus forced the people of Uri and their allies to flee to Misox. Two churches, now extinct, were to stand near the bridge over the Moesa and were probably destroyed by the floods of the river: San Cristoforo (1284) and Sant'Elena (1441). In the center of Arbedo was the church of Santa Maria, which became the parish church in 1583.

Census
(See here for information regarding Ticino census records.)

The 1808 Ticino census for Ascona can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Ascona prior to 1875, along with any known soprannomi. For more information about soprannomi, click here.

Related sources
The town's website (in Italian) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Ticino

Societies
Società Genealogica della Svizzera Italiana (SGSI)