Chiasso Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Chiasso 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, Chiasso has an area of 5.33 square kilometers (2.06 sq mi). The municipality is located in the Mendrisio district, on the Italian border. The municipality of Chiasso consists of the villages of Boffalora, Pedrinate, and Seseglio. Since Pedrinate merged into Chiasso in 1976, it has been the most southerly municipality in Switzerland.

In 2007, the three mayors of Chiasso, Vacallo and Morbio Inferiore decided to bring together their areas into one commune. The new united commune with a population of ~15,300 people over a territory of 9.2 km2 (3.6 sq mi), was refused by the population in November 2007.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 30.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 49.7% - forested
 * 36.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.4% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.8% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Chiasso was in 1140 as Claso.

The population history of Chiasso is: 1591 - 160 inhabitants 1685 - 315 inhabitants 1769 - 455 inhabitants 1801 - 479 inhabitants 1850 - 1265 inhabitants 1900 - 3700 inhabitants 1910 - 5722 inhabitants 1920 - 5439 inhabitants 1950 - 5744 inhabitants 1970 - 8868 inhabitants 1980 - 8583 (with Pedrinate) 2000 - 7720 inhabitants

The history and development of the town were strongly influenced by its geographic location. A castle probably stood in Chiasso as part of the fortifications of the city of Como. Chiasso was a suburb of Como until 1416, it was then integrated, on the administrative level, into the pieve of Balerna when the latter passed to the Rusca family. Chiasso, on the other hand, became a municipality before 1552; in contemporary records show it is referred to as Clasio tabernarum («Chiasso of the taverns»), which indicates its function as a place of passage. Only after 1657 and 1677 were Chiasso and Boffalora subordinated to a single community leader in Chiasso. Chiasso belonged ecclesiastically to Pieve Zezio (Como), from which separated during the 16th century. In 1888, the parish of Chiasso was completely separated, and in 1928 it was raised to the status of archpriest. The Church of San Vitale was first mentioned in 1227 and rebuilt in 1934.

Politically the following municipalities were part of the Pieve of Balerna:
 * Balerna
 * Boffalora
 * Castel San Pietro
 * Chiasso
 * Coldrerio
 * Novazzano
 * Pedrinate
 * Seseglio
 * Vacallo
 * Valle di Muggio
 * Villa

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Chiasso can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Chiasso 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)