Certara Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Certara 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 Certara is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton. It is located in the upper Colla valley on the left slope near the Italian border. Certara has an area of 2.7 km² (1.0 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 7.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 81.3% - forested
 * 4.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 3.3% - non-productive

History
In 1264, Certara was first mentioned with the name of S. Pietro Martire. Certara is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton. Originally, Certara was a simple herding camp related to the village of Sonvico. Certara merged into the Lugano municipality on 14 April 2013. Other municipalities merged include:
 * Bogno
 * Cadro
 * Carona
 * Certara
 * Cimadera
 * Sonvico
 * Vacallo

The population history of Certara is: 1591 - 100 inhabitants 1791 - 150 inhabitants 1808 - 102 inhabitants 1850 - 142 inhabitants 1900 - 181 inhabitants 1950 - 136 inhabitants 1990 - 52 inhabitants 2000 - 65 inhabitants 2010 - 64 inhabitants 2012 - 55 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 75.4% were Roman Catholic
 * 4.6% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 12.3% belong to another church

During the 17th century, the Saint-Roch chapel was built. In 1899, the parish of Certara was erected.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Certara can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Certara 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)