Sessa Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sessa 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, Ponte Tresa has an area of 0.41 square kilometers (0.16 sq mi). The former municipality is situated in the Lugano district, on Lake Lugano along the Swiss-Italian border, about 12 km (7.5 mi) from Lugano. The neighboring Italian town is named Lavena Ponte Tresa.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 34.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 43.9% - forested
 * 46.3% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 7.3% - rivers or lakes

On 18 April 2021, the following municipalities merged to form the new municipality of Tresa.
 * Croglio
 * Monteggio
 * Ponte Tresa
 * Sessa

History
The first mention of Ponte Tresa was in 818 as ad Tresiae Pontem, though this comes from a 12th Century copy of the earlier document. The next mention of Ponte Tresa was in 875 as Ponte Tretia

The population history of Ponte Tresa is: 1755 - 259 inhabitants 1850 - 405 inhabitants 1900 - 452 inhabitants 1950 - 473 inhabitants 2000 - 769 inhabitants 2010 - 773 inhabitants 2020 - 769 inhabitants

The history of the village is closely linked to that of the Tresa river crossing. In the Middle Ages, the inhabitants had to watch the passage and maintain the bridge over the river Tresa, which earned Ponte Tresa privileges. Spiritually, Ponte Tresa depended on Lavena until 1821 when it became an independent parish. A restoration of the 15th-century church of San Bernardino took place from 1972-1982. Since 1912, there has been a railway line between Lugano and Ponte Tresa.

According to records from 1571, Ponte Tresa Parish was part of the Agno Pieve. The Pieve was formed from the following parishes: In Swiss territory -

In what is now Italian territory. With the exception of Cremenaga, all these parishes were separated from Agno by 1633.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Sessa can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Sessa 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)