Cavagnago Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Cavagnago 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, Cavagnago has an area of 6.68 square kilometers (2.58 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Leventina district, at an elevation of 1,020 m (3,350 ft) on the left slope of the lower Leventina valley. It is on the Strada Alta or hiking trail in the middle of the so-called Traversa or terrace which includes Calonico, Anzonico, Cavagnago, and Sobrio.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 7.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 74.4% - forested
 * 1.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 9.1% - unproductive land

On 1 April 2012, Cavagnago was incorporated into the municipality of Faido along with the following municipalities:
 * Anzonico
 * Calpiogna
 * Campello
 * Chironico
 * Mairengo
 * Osco

History
The first mention of Cavagnago is in 1270 as Cavagnago.

The population history of Cavagnago is: 1574 - 305 inhabitants 1602 - 191 inhabitants 1745 - 215 inhabitants 1850 - 342 inhabitants 1900 - 175 inhabitants 1950 - 134 inhabitants 2000 - 83 inhabitants 2010 - 81 inhabitants 2011 - 83 inhabitants

With the hamlets of Segno, Mascengo and Codaghengo, still inhabited at the beginning of the 17th century, the village formed a degagna of the old Vicinanza Giornico. In the Middle Ages, Cavagnago and Sobrio both worshiped at the 13th-century chapel of Sant'Ambrogio di Segno, a chapel with a massive Romanesque bell tower and 15th-16th century frescoes. Cavagnago belonged to the parish of Giornico, from which it split in 1585 to form an independent parish with Sobrio. In 1611, Sobrio separed from this parish. The parish church of Sant'Anna, listed as early as 1567, was restored in 1934.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Cavagnago can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Cavagnago 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)