Caviano Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Caviano 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
The former municipality of Caviano is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. It is located above Lake Maggiore and is the westernmost municipality in the Gambarogno. It shares a border with Italy. Caviano includes the Scaiano hamlet. Caviano has an area of 3.2 km² (1.2 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 5.9% - agricultural purposes
 * 81.9% - forested
 * 7.2% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.9% - rivers & lakes
 * 1.6% - non-productive

History
In 1258, Caviano was first mentioned with the name of Caviliano. Caviano is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. It consists of the Scaiano hamlet. Caviano merged into a new municipality of Gambarogno on 25 April 2010. Other former municipalities merged include:
 * Contone
 * Gerra (Gambarogno)
 * Indemini
 * Magadino
 * Piazzogna
 * San Nazzaro
 * Sant'Abbondio
 * Vira (Gambarogno)

The population history of Caviano is: 1591 - 59 Hearths 1808 - 249 inhabitants 1850 - 332 inhabitants 1900 - 272 inhabitants 1950 - 184 inhabitants 2000 - 111 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 64.0% were Roman Catholic
 * 17.1% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 11.7% belong to another church

Originally, Caviano was part of the Locarno parish. Then in 1558, it joined Sant'Abbondio. In 1850, Caviano became a separate parish. In 1864, the new St. Maria Nascente church was built.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Caviano can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Caviano 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)