Avegno Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Avegno 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, Arogno has an area of 8.5 square kilometers (3.3 sq mi). Arogno is situated on a high plateau in the Val Mara, about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Italian border near the enclave of Campione. It includes the village of Arogno and many hamlets including Pugerna.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 12.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 84.5% - forested
 * 5.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.8% - unproductive land

History
The population history of Arogno is: 1591 - 380 inhabitants 1670 - 478 inhabitants 1850 - 756 inhabitants 1900 - 1075 inhabitants 1950 - 820 inhabitants 2000 - 969 inhabitants

In 859, the Milan monastery Saint Ambrogio is mentioned as the owner of goods in Arogno. The parish church of Saint Stefano (originally Saint Nicolao, mentioned in 810) separated in 1581 from the mother church Riva San Vitale. From 1591 to the end of the 17th century, there was a settlement of Ursuline nuns. East from Arogno is the Roman Michael's Chapel, which underwent a major transformation in the Baroque period (17th-18th Century). On February 24, 1798, Arogno joined the Republic of Riva San Vitale. A convention of 1861 ironed out the territorial disputes existing during 1797-1798 between Arogno and Campione d'Italia.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Avegno can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Avegno 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)