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 774 as Primo Sobenno. It was mentioned again in 1115 as Ripa Sancti Vitalis.

The population history of Riva San Vitale is: 1591 - 500 inhabitants 1643 - 517 inhabitants 1719 - 600 inhabitants 1769 - 636 inhabitants 1801 - 611 inhabitants 1850 - 851 inhabitants 1900 - 1333 inhabitants 1950 - 1166 inhabitants 2000 - 2292 inhabitants

In 1115, the Benedictine Abbey of Sant'Abbondio in Como owned goods in Riva San Vitale. In the late Middle Ages, Riva San Vitale, which was included in the municipal law of Como from 1335 as a citizenship, ceded its dominance in trade to Capolago, but continued to enjoy various privileges and tax exemptions reaching into the early modern period. In the 15th century it was a market town for a brief time. The parish church of San Vitale, first recorded in 962-966, most likely goes back to the beginning of Christianization in the southern foothills of the Alps. It was rebuilt in the late Baroque style in 1756-59 and refurbished in 1993–1995. The Baptistery of San Giovanni is constructed on the foundations of a Roman building and is from the early Christian era (c. 500 AD). It was refurbished in 1919-1926 and again in 1953-1955 and is the oldest fully preserved church in Switzerland. The church of Santa Croce was donated by the Della Croce family and was built in 1582–1591. It is one of the most important sacred buildings of the late Renaissance in Switzerland.

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)