Bissone Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Bissone 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, Bissone has an area of 1.82 square kilometers (0.70 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Lugano district on the eastern end of the Melide causeway, on the shore of Lake Lugano, in the southernmost tip of Switzerland.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 12.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 81.3% - forested
 * 20.9% - settled (buildings or roads)

History
The first mention of Bissone was in 735 as Blixuni.

The population history of Bissone is: 1591 - 300 inhabitants 1696 - 260 inhabitants 1850 - 302 inhabitants 1900 - 318 inhabitants 1950 - 397 inhabitants 2000 - 711 inhabitants

Beginning in the 9th Century, the monastery of S. Ambrogio in Milan owned property in Bissone. The parish church of St. Carpoforo detached in part in 1474 from the mother church at Riva San Vitale. It became completely independent in 1622, but retained a relationship with the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia. The Oratory of St. Rocco was constructed around 1630.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Bissone can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Bissone 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)