Maggia Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Maggia 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, Maggia had an area of 111.09 square kilometers (42.89 sq mi). The municipality is located in the Vallemaggia district.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 0.7% - agricultural purposes
 * 12.9% - forested
 * 0.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.4% - rivers or lakes
 * 6.7% - unproductive land

Maggia's municipal borders were created in 2004 when the following municipalities were united:
 * Aurigeno
 * Giumaglio
 * Maggia
 * Moghegno
 * Lodano
 * Someo

History
The first mention of Maggia is in 1200 as de madia. The next mention was in 1225 as Madiis, and then in 1270 as Madia.

The population history of Maggia is: 1591 - 420 inhabitants 1709 - 530 inhabitants 1801 - 414 inhabitants 1850 - 641 inhabitants 1870 - 471 inhabitants 1900 - 340 inhabitants 1950 - 450 inhabitants 1990 - 712 inhabitants 2000 - 850 inhabitants

2004 - the municipality contains roughly 2,400 inhabitants and its official language is Italian (this was after the merge).

The history of the late Middle Ages under the rule of the twelve cantons ran parallel to that of the valley and the Pieve Locarno. The first parish church of the bottom of the valley was built in Maggia, after separating around 1000 from Saint Vittore in Muralto. In the centuries that followed, the parishes of the region came from this mother church. The current building, consecrated in 1636 and dedicated to Saint Maurice, was extended in 1855 (façade) and 1881 (monumental staircase) and restored in 1996-1998. The oratory of the Madonna delle Grazie, built in 1510 on an earlier chapel, contains contemporary frescoes and votive paintings by Giovanni Antonio Vanoni.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Maggia can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Maggia 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)