Prato Leventina Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Prato Leventina 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, Prato Leventina has an area of 16.85 square kilometers (6.51 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Leventina district, in a depression in the mountains at an elevation of 1,046 m (3,432 ft) near the Monte Piottino gorge. It includes the village of Prato and the hamlets of Fiesso, Mascengo, Rodi, and Morasco.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 6.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 46.9% - forested
 * 2.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 3.1% - rivers or lakes
 * 29.1% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Prato (Leventina) was in 1211 as de Prato. It used to be known as Pratt in German, though this name is no longer used. It was known as Prato-Fiesso  between 1902 and 1939.

The population history of Prato Leventina is: 1602 - 224 inhabitants 1639 - 191 inhabitants 1745 - 308 inhabitants 1850 - 424 inhabitants 1900 - 327 inhabitants 1950 - 306 inhabitants 2000 - 397 inhabitants 2010 - 436 inhabitants

The village may have grown up around a Sust (an alpine warehouse and administrative center) along the Gotthard road. The village was the center of a Vicinanza (neighborhood) which included the Degagne of Prato, Fiesso and until 1866, Dalpe. In 1561, the Dazio Grande was built in Rodi and used until 1834 as a customs house and also a Sust. In 1999, the same foundation of the building was used for a cultural center. The parish church of San Giorgio is first recorded in 1210 and then renovated in the 1950s.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Prato Leventina does not survive..

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Prato Leventina 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)