Olivone Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Olivone 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
Olivone is situated at an altitude of 900 m in a wide hollow on Monte Sosto, on the route to the Lukmanier Pass and the crossing of the Greina. Olivone consisted of the hamlets of Scona, Sommascona, and Lavorceno and stretched over 76.2 km 2.

History
The first mention of Olivone was in 1193 as Alivoni. Then in 1205, it was mentioned as Orivono.

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

The population history of Olivone is: 1567 - 593 inhabitants 1602 - 1000 inhabitants 1682 - 1018 inhabitants 1745 - 734 inhabitants 1785 - 640 inhabitants 1801 - 644 inhabitants 1850 - 758 inhabitants 1900 - 765 inhabitants 1950 - 707 inhabitants 1960 - 930 inhabitants 2000 - 845 inhabitants 2005 - 873 inhabitants

In spiritual terms, during the early Middle Ages, Olivone was probably the center of a pieve that controlled the entire valley. From the High and Late Middle Ages, the history of the village ran parallel to that of the Blenio valley. The parish church of San Martino, cited in 1136, was transformed in the 17th century and restored in 1974 and 1984-1991. The community of Olivone, which from the first half of the 14th century also included the inhabitants of Campo and Largario, was the only one in the Blenio Valley to be divided into three degagne (districts).

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Olivone can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Olivone 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)