Porza Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Porza 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, Porza has an area of 1.58 square kilometers (0.61 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Lugano district, northwest of Lugano. It included the village of Porza and the hamlets of Vira, Trevano and Belvedere along the hills, as well as Cornaredo and Resega in the valley.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 43.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 41.8% - forested
 * 43.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.9% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Origlio was in 1335 as Orellio.

The population history of Origlio is: 1574 - 302 hearths 1682 - 370 inhabitants 1799 - 203 inhabitants 1850 - 229 inhabitants 1900 - 215 inhabitants 1950 - 220 inhabitants 1980 - 492 inhabitants 2000 - 1158 inhabitants

In the Middle Ages, the village was included in the valley community of Lugano. In 1484, it was struck by the plague. In the 15th Century, it was under the Duke of Milan, to whom it had to supply soldiers and weapons. Under Swiss Confederation rule, it was included in the bailiwick of Lugano. In 1803, after the Act of Mediation, it was included in the district of Lugano. The first church in the village dates from the 8th century. The church of San Vittore Mauro in Carnago was constructed on the site of this earlier church. It became a parish church in 1570. After 1812, a duty was shared with the church of SS Giorgio and Maria Immacolata, which dates back to the 17th Century.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Porza can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Porza prior to 1900, 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)