Paradiso, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Paradiso, 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 Paradiso is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton. It is located on the shore of Lake Lugano and is surrounded by the city of Lugano but is administratively independent. Paradiso municipality includes the village of Paradiso and sections of Calprino, Guidino, Fontana and Morchino. Paradiso (as of 1997) had an area of 0.89 km² (0.34 square miles). The land use was divided up as follows:
 * 37.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 36.0% - forested
 * 58.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.1% - rivers or lakes

History
In 1335, Paradiso was first mentioned with the name of Calprino and continued until the mid-1800s. It was officially named Paradiso in 1929. Paradiso is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton.

The population history of Paradiso is: 1850 - 254 inhabitants 1860 - 275 inhabitants 1870 - 404 inhabitants 1880 - 348 inhabitants 1890 - 426 inhabitants 1900 - 791 inhabitants 1910 - 1,320 inhabitants 1920 - 1,309 inhabitants 1930 - 1,469 inhabitants 1941 - 1,534 inhabitants 1950 - 1,660 inhabitants 1960 - 1,819 inhabitants 1970 - 3,101 inhabitants 1980 - 3,261 inhabitants 1990 - 3,372 inhabitants 2000 - 3,694 inhabitants 2010 - 4,408 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 61.5% were Roman Catholic
 * 7.2% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 24.1% belong to another church

In 1040, the Benedictine monastery of St. Carpophorus was mentioned. During the 12th century, the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Ambroise in Milan was mentioned. The church of Paradiso was the parish of Pambio. Since the 16th century, the Notre-Dame oratory at La Geretta has been in existence.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Paradiso can be accessed here (called Calprino in the census).

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Paradiso 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)