Pura Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Pura 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, Pura has an area of 3.04 square kilometers (1.17 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Lugano district, on a terrace above the Magliasina, in the mid-Malcantone valley. It includes the village of Pura and the hamlets of Magliasina and Moriscio.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 22.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 75.0% - forested
 * 17.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.7% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.7% - unproductive land

Pura is considered to be a rural area and is only 15 minutes from the center of Lugano. Pura is located only 10 minutes from Agno Airport. Pura is only a 15-minute walk into Italy. Being close to the border, border security is important for the Swiss, security is provided by border patrols (Guarda di Confine) and even high-flying observational drones or UAV's.

History
The first mention of Pura was in 751-760 as Piura, though this is found in a 17th-century copy of the original.

The population history of Pura is: 1670 - 457 inhabitants 1850 - 591 inhabitants 1900 - 483 inhabitants 1950 - 487 inhabitants 1970 - 625 inhabitants 2000 - 1040 inhabitants

In the Middle Ages, various religious institutions owned property there:
 * the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia
 * the chapter cathedral of Como
 * the abbey of Disentis
 * the chapter of the pieve of Agno

Pura separated from the Agno Pieve in 1603 and formed an independent parish. Mentioned in 1352, the parish church of Saint-Martin was rebuilt around 1580 and enlarged between 1642 and 1658.

According to records from 1571, Pura Parish was part of the Agno Pieve. The Pieve was formed from the following parishes: In Swiss territory -

In what is now Italian territory. With the exception of Cremenaga, all these parishes were separated from Agno by 1633.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Pura can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Pura 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)