Gerra (Gambarogno) Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Gerra (Gambarogno) 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 former municipality of Gerra is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. Gerra includes the villages of Ronco, Riva and Scimiana. Gerra has an area of 3.14 km² (1.21 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 9.9% - agricultural purposes
 * 84.1% - forested
 * 8.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.9% - rivers & lakes
 * 2.2% - non-productive

History
In 1591, Gerra was first mentioned with the name of Ronco de Martignoni. Gerra is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. It consists of the Ronco, Riva and Scimiana villages. Gerra merged into a new municipality of Gambarogno on 25 April 2010. Other former municipalities merged include:
 * Caviano
 * Contone
 * Indemini
 * Magadino
 * Piazzogna
 * San Nazzaro
 * Sant'Abbondio
 * Vira (Gambarogno)

The population history of Gerra is: 1591 - 27 Hearths 1669 - 57 inhabitants 1801 - 405 inhabitants 1850 - 651 inhabitants 1900 - 451 inhabitants 1950 - 330 inhabitants 2000 - 254 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 69.3% were Roman Catholic
 * 15.7% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 13.0% belong to another church

In 1744, the Saints-Roch-et-Sébastien church was created as a new parish.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Gerra can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Gerra 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)