Riva San Vitale Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Riva San Vitale 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, Riva San Vitale has an area of 5.97 square kilometers (2.31 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Mendrisio district, on the southern end of Lake Lugano and at the foot of Monte San Giorgio. It includes the village of Riva San Vitale and the hamlet of Poiana.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 19.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 73.2% - forested
 * 14.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.3% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.5% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Riva San Vitale was in 857 as Ludrini. It was mentioned again in 1193 as Ludrino.

In 1830, Prosito Lodrino merged with the municipality of Lodrino.

The following municipalities merged on On 2 April 2017 into the new municipality of Riviera:
 * Cresciano
 * Iragna
 * Lodrino
 * Osogna

The population history of Riva San Vitale is: 1850 - 534 inhabitants 1900 - 776 inhabitants 1950 - 752 inhabitants 1970 - 1075 inhabitants 2000 - 1461 inhabitants 2010 - 1686 inhabitants 2016 - 1779 inhabitants

During the Middle Ages, Lodrino also consisted of the hamlet of Prosito (called Proxedrium in the 13th century). Prosito probably had the same status as Lodrino and Iragna in the mid-15th century. First mentioned in 1207, were the hamlets on the mountainside that formed the community of Monte Parli. The center of Monte Parli was the Chapel of San Martino di Monte Paglio, which was built in 1215. The parish church of Santi Gervasio e Protasio was built in the 13th century and was, perhaps, a separate church. It was originally the parish church of the hamlets and was known as Santi Placido e Sigisberto. The main church in Lodrino was the church of Sant'Ambrogio which was first recorded in 1375. It was constructed on the foundation of a romanesque church from the 11th-12th centuries. In the Middle Ages, pastoral care was the responsibility of the provost of Biasca. When the Duke of Milan ceded the Levantine to Uri in 1441, he reorganized his properties in the Riviera. The villages Lodrino, Prosito and Iragna were incorporated in a ducal vicariate headed by an official elected by the villagers. In the administration as well as civil and criminal law the villages were given considerable independence, which was confirmed in the statutes of 1450 and 1492. In 1496 Lodrino, Prosito and Iragna swore their allegiance to the Swiss Confederation.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Riva San Vitale can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Riva San Vitale 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)