Sagno Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sagno 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, Sagno has an area of 1.68 square kilometers (0.65 sq mi). The village is situated in the Mendrisio district, on the slopes of Monte Bisbino along the left side of the Muggio valley. It includes the village of Sagno and the hamlet of Trevalle.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 8.2% - agricultural purposes
 * 77.1% - forested
 * 1.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.2% - rivers or lakes
 * 1.8% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Sagno was in 1296-1299 as Sagnio.

On 25 October 2009, the following municipalities merged into the municipality of Breggia:
 * Bruzella
 * Cabbio
 * Caneggio
 * Morbio Superiore
 * Muggio
 * Sagno

The population history of Sagno is: 1643 - 144 inhabitants 1723 - 157 inhabitants 1801 - 170 inhabitants 1850 - 154 inhabitants 1900 - 194 inhabitants 1950 - 171 inhabitants 1970 - 147 inhabitants 2000 - 238 inhabitants

A number of finds from the Bronze Age suggest that the valley was settled prehistorically. During the Middle Ages it belonged to the Pieve of Balerna. With Morbio Superiore, it formed a vice-parish, which depended on the mother church at Balerna. They broke away in the 17th Century and in 1802, became an independent parish. The parish church of San Michele Arcangelo was attested in 1330, but is of much older origin. In 1789-1799, it was rebuilt in the Classicist style and it was renovated in 1982-1983.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Sagno can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Sagno 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)