Balerna Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Balerna 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, Balerna has an area of 2.57 square kilometers (0.99 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Mendrisio district. The municipal area, which is crossed by the transit axes of the Gotthard line, also consists of the settlements of Caslaccio, Mercole, S. Antonio, Bisio, Pontegana, Passeggiata.

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 first mention of Avegno was in 1189 as Vegno.

The population history of Avegno is: 1591 - 63 hearth 1703 - 490 inhabitants 1801 - 400 inhabitants 1850 - 399 inhabitants 1900 - 322 inhabitants 1941 - 167 inhabitants 1950 - 215 inhabitants 2000 - 493 inhabitants 2007 - 547 inhabitants

Avegno and Gordevio already had their own chaplain in the 14th century, but they probably only detached from the mother church in Maggia around 1645 and became independent parishes. The parish church of Saints Luca e Abbondio, dedicated in 1313, was enlarged in the 17th century. The rich stucco work in the church also dates from this period.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Balerna can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Balerna 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)