Medeglia Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Medeglia 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, Medeglia has an area of 6.27 square kilometers (2.42 sq mi). The municipality is located in the upper Vedeggio valley, in the Bellinzona district. It consists of the village of Medeglia and multiple hamlets including Drossa. Until 1805, the village of Robasacco (now part of Cadenazzo) belonged to Medeglia.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 7.7% - agricultural purposes
 * 79.1% - forested
 * 3.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.2% - rivers or lakes
 * 2.2% - unproductive land

The following municipalities merged on 21 November 2010 into the new municipality of Monteceneri:
 * Bironico
 * Camignolo
 * Medeglia
 * Rivera
 * Sigirino

History
The first mention of Medeglia is in 1195 as Medellia.

The population history of Medeglia is: 1591 - 370 inhabitants 1709 - 443 inhabitants 1801 - 543 inhabitants 1850 - 469 inhabitants 1900 - 383 inhabitants 1950 - 331 inhabitants 2000 - 330 inhabitants

It is assumed that around the year one thousand, Bironico was the civil and religious center of Carvina, a community that included the localities of the middle and upper valley of the Vedeggio, which were part of the former parish of Bironico:
 * Camignolo
 * Isone
 * Medeglia
 * Mezzovico-Vira
 * Rivera
 * Robasacco
 * Sigirino

It became part of the parish of Bironico in the 13th century. During the High Middle Ages, Bironico was first dependent on the diocese and then on the city of Como for spiritual needs. In 1501-1503, Medeglia and Isone, although still belonging to the pieve of Agno, moved from the community of Lugano to the county of Bellinzona. Then, in 1585, Medeglia broke away from that parish to become a vice parish. It was raised to a full parish in 1888. The parish church of St. Bartholomew was first mentioned in 1328. The romanesque core of the church was renovated and rebuilt in the 15th and 17th centuries.

According to records from 1571, Bironico Parish was part of the Agno Pieve. The Pieve was formed from the following parishes: In Swiss territory -

In what is now Italian territory. With the exception of Cremenaga, all these parishes were separated from Agno by 1633.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Medeglia can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Medeglia 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)