Sant'Antonio (Val Morobbia) Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sant'Antonio (Val Morobbia) 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, Sant'Antonio has an area of 33.58 square kilometers (12.97 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Bellinzona district on the heights above the right side of the upper Morobbia valley. It consists of the Carena mountain, which is 958 m (3,143 ft). It includes the village of Sant'Antonio and several hamlets.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 1.3% - agricultural purposes
 * 79.3% - forested
 * 0.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.7% - rivers or lakes
 * 9.8% - unproductive land

History
On 23 November 1831, Sant'Antonio became independent after the old municipality was separated into three new municipalities; Pianezzo, Sant'Antonio and Vallemorobbia in Piano.

On 2 April 2017, these former neighboring municipalities merged into Bellinzona:
 * Camorino
 * Claro
 * Giubiasco
 * Gnosca
 * Gorduno
 * Gudo
 * Moleno
 * Monte Carasso
 * Pianezzo
 * Preonzo
 * Sant'Antonio
 * Sementina

The population history of Sant'Antonio is: 1653 - 550 inhabitants 1761 - 300 inhabitants 1850 - 688 inhabitants 1870 - 763 inhabitants 1900 - 599 inhabitants 1950 - 346 inhabitants 2000 - 168 inhabitants

The so-called Squadra (Fraction) or part of the village made up the medieval municipality of Vallemorobbia. In 1803, it became a section of the political municipality of Vallemorobbia. Before 1600, the village part of the parish belonged to the church of Bellinzona, followed by the parish of Pianezzo until 1680. The first mention of the parish church of SS Antonio Abate e Abbondio is in 1371, and the church was restored in the 16th Century.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Sant'Antonio can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Sant'Antonio 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)