Sant'Abbondio Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sant'Abbondio 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
The former municipality of Sant'Abbondio is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. It is located above Lake Maggiore on the slopes of Monte Gambarogno. It includes the hamlets of Calgiano, Ranzo and Garaverio and the village of Sant'Abbondio. Sant'Abbondio has an area of 3.2 km² (1.2 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 3.8% - agricultural purposes
 * 88.1% - forested
 * 4.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.9% - rivers & lakes
 * 5.3% - non-productive

History
In 1192, Sant'Abbondio was first mentioned with the name of Sancto Abundio. Sant'Abbondio is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. Sant'Abbondio merged into a new municipality of Gambarogno on 25 April 2010. Other former municipalities merged include:
 * Caviano
 * Contone
 * Gerra (Gambarogno)
 * Indemini
 * Magadino
 * Piazzogna
 * San Nazzaro
 * Vira (Gambarogno)

The population history of Sant'Abbondio is: 1591 - 825 inhabitants 1683 - 850 inhabitants 1795 - 500 inhabitants 1850 - 251 inhabitants 1900 - 170 inhabitants 1950 - 116 inhabitants 2000 - 123 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 56.1% were Roman Catholic
 * 22.0% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 10.57% belong to another church

In 1364, the church of Saints Abonde and André was first mentioned. It was part of the Vira parish. In 1774, the villages of Ronco de Martignoni, Ronco di Sopra and Scimiana separated from Sant'Abbondio to join the Gerra parish. In 1850, the settlements of Caviano and Scaiano also broke away. In 1852, the new, smaller parish of Sant'Abbondio was rebuilt.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Sant'Abbondio can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Sant'Abbondio 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)