Orselina, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Orselina, 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, Orselina has an area of 1.94 square kilometers (0.75 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Locarno district, on a hill above Muralto. It includes the village of Orselina and the settlement of San Bernardo.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 18.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 74.7% - forested
 * 23.2% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.5% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Orselina was in 1182 as Concilio Meziano It was mentioned later in 1323 as Orsarina.

The population history of Orselina is: 1596 - 104 inhabitants 1801 - 537 inhabitants 1850 - 782 inhabitants 1880 - 1206 inhabitants 1888 - 227 inhabitants (without Muralto) 1900 - 212 inhabitants 1950 - 648 inhabitants 2000 - 866 inhabitants

During the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern Period, it (along with Burbaglio and Muralto) belonged to the Vicinanza of Consiglio Mezzano, which was part of the Locarno and Ascona region. The castle SS Abbondio e Biagio was given in the 12th century as land by the Bishop of Como to the Muralto family, but was destroyed in the 14th century. The political municipality of Orselina was created in 1803 and included Muralto. Up until 1850, Orselina dominated the municipality, because of the economic weight of its livestock and vineyards. However, even by the 19th century, the two towns had grown differently. The traditional socio-economic structure remained in the upper part (Orselina), and the lower part along the lake (Muralto) grew industrially and urbanized. The differences in the towns led to a division of the municipality in 1881 into Orselina and Muralto. The 16th-century Church of S. Bernardo was originally dependent on the Church of S. Vittore in Muralto. Beginning in 1816, the church's pastor came from Locarno. It became the center of its own parish in 1966.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Orselina can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Orselina 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)