Cerentino Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Cerentino 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, Cerentino has an area of 20.07 square kilometers (7.75 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Vallemaggia district, at the junction of the Rovana river with the stream of the Valle di Bosco. It includes nine inhabited settlements as well as two abandoned ones. The settlements independent from each other and the rest of the canton. The main village is located at an elevation of 979 m (3,212 ft).

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 1.9% - agricultural purposes
 * 66.4% - forested
 * 1.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.2% - rivers or lakes
 * 26.5% - unproductive land

History
The population history of Cerentino is: 1591 - 625 inhabitants 1769 - 475 inhabitants 1801 - 365 inhabitants 1850 - 371 inhabitants 1900 - 209 inhabitants 1950 - 152 inhabitants 1990 - 47 inhabitants 2000 - 58 inhabitants 2010 - 60 inhabitants 2020 - 39 inhabitants

The parish church of the Madonna delle Grazie already existed in the 15th century. It was expanded in the beginning of the 16th Century when Cerentino broke away from Cevio in 1513. The church includes frescoes and stucco from the 17th century.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Cerentino can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Cerentino 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)