Torricella-Taverne Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Torricella-Taverne 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, Torricella-Taverne has an area of 5.24 square kilometers (2.02 sq mi). It is in the district of Lugano, located on the right bank of the Vedeggio river south of Monte Barro, comprising the two villages of Torricella (with the hamlet of Motto) and Taverne.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 15.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 68.9% - forested
 * 18.1% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.6% - rivers or lakes
 * 2.7% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Torricella-Taverne was in 1254 as Torexella. The next mention of Torricella-Taverne was in 1437 as Tabernas de Torexella. An additional mention was in 1473 as Torricella and Tavern.

The population history of Torricella-Taverne is: 1670 - 447 inhabitants 1801 - 411 inhabitants 1850 - 512 inhabitants 1900 - 587 inhabitants 1950 - 741 inhabitants 2000 - 2704 inhabitants

A domain belonging to the bishop of Como is attested at Portici in 1261. Spiritually, T. originally came from Agno, formed a vice-parish in 1566, then became a parish in 1615. The church of Saints-Maurice-et-Blaise, attested since 1361, but of older origin. The choir was expanded in the first half of the 17th century and renovated for the last time in 2002-03..

According to records from 1571, Torricella 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 Torricella-Taverne can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Torricella-Taverne prior to 1900, 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)