Morbio Superiore Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Morbio Superiore 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, Morbio Superiore has an area of 2.75 square kilometers (1.06 sq mi). The village is situated in the Mendrisio district, at the entrance to the Muggio valley on the left side of the valley. It includes the village of Morbio Superiore and the hamlet of Lattecaldo.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 18.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 69.8% - forested
 * 12.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.7% - unproductive land

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

History
The first mention of Morbio Superiore was in 1116 as Morbio de Supra.

The population history of Morbio Superiore is: 1643 - 233 inhabitants 1696 - 207 inhabitants 1723 - 180 inhabitants 1801 - 223 inhabitants 1850 - 306 inhabitants 1900 - 303 inhabitants 1950 - 327 inhabitants 1990 - 601 inhabitants 2000 - 700 inhabitants

In the Middle Ages (first mentioned in 1299) the village was owned by Como Cathedral and the Benedictine monastery of San Abbondio in Como. The church of San Vittore in Balerna also owned property in the village. From 1591 until the 17th century, Morbio and Sagno were a vice parish under the pieve at Balerna. In 1802, Morbio Superiore was an independent parish. The parish church of San Giovanni Evangelista was first mentioned in 1227. In the 18th century, it was totally rebuilt and then renovated in 1957. The chapel of San Martino, originally an Early Middle Ages romanesque building is located on what might be an Ostrogoth watchtower from the 6th century. The Chapel of San Anna is from the late Baroque period.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Morbio Superiore can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Morbio Superiore 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)