Torre Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Torre 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
Aquila is situated in the center of the upper Blenio Valley, located at 782 m. The municipal area consisted of the hamlets of Dangio, Grumarone, Pinaderio and Ponto Aquilesco.

On 22 October 2006, Blenio was formed into a new municipality when the following municipalities were merged:
 * Aquila
 * Campo Blenio
 * Ghirone
 * Olivone
 * Torre

History
The first mention of Aquila was in 1196 as Aquili.

The population history of Aquila is: 1602 - 600 inhabitants 1801 - 804 inhabitants 1850 - 1040 inhabitants 1900 - 719 inhabitants 1950 - 627 inhabitants 2000 - 487 inhabitants 2005 - 519 inhabitants

In the Middle Ages, Aquila, which included the neighborhood of Ghirone around 1200, shared the history of the Blenio Valley. The boundaries established in 1853 when the two municipalities were separated, remained in place until the merger. The parish church of San Vittore, mentioned as early as 1213, was rebuilt between 1728-1730. The civil communities were divided in 1914.

The municipality of Grumo was merged into Torre in 1927.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Torre can be accessed here. The census for the community of Grumo can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Torre 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)