Broglio Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Broglio 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
The municipality of Broglio is in the Vallemaggia district and the Ticino canton. It is located on the road to Fusio (about 35 km from Locarno). Broglio (as of 1997) had an area of 12.94 km² (5.00 square miles). The land use was divided up as follows:
 * 2.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 53.2% - forested
 * 1.2% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.9% - rivers or lakes
 * 41.2% - unproductive land

History
In 1361, Broglio was first mentioned with the name of Brono. Broglio is in the Vallemaggia district and the Ticino canton. Broglio merged into the municipality of Lavizzara on 8 October 2003. Other former municipalities merged include:
 * Broglio
 * Brontallo
 * Fusio
 * Menzonio
 * Peccia
 * Prato-Sornico

The population history of Broglio is: 1700 - 280 inhabitants 1850 - 109 inhabitants 1860 - 140 inhabitants 1870 - 153 inhabitants 1880 - 108 inhabitants 1888 - 137 inhabitants 1900 - 108 inhabitants 1910 - 57 inhabitants 1920 - 69 inhabitants 1930 - 76 inhabitants 1941 - 73 inhabitants 1950 - 73 inhabitants 1960 - 73 inhabitants 1970 - 65 inhabitants 1980 - 70 inhabitants 1990 - 61 inhabitants 2000 - 88 inhabitants 2003 - 92 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 97.7% were Roman Catholic
 * 1.1% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 0.0% belong to another church

In 1487, the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette church was dedicated. It was rebuilt and restored many times. In 1616, Broglio became an independent parish after it separated from the Sornico parish. In the 17th century, the Casa Pometta (historicially significant) was established.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Broglio can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Broglio 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)