Ponte Capriasca Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Ponte Capriasca 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, Ponte Capriasca has an area of 6.2 square kilometers (2.4 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Lugano district, in the Valli di Lugano Region.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 8.2% - agricultural purposes
 * 64.0% - forested
 * 8.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.3% - rivers or lakes
 * 13.1% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Ponte Capriasca was in 1335 as Ponte. Later in 1491, it was mentioned as Ponte Criviascha.

The population history of Ponte Capriasca is: 1574 - 164 inhabitants 1638 - 131 inhabitants 1850 - 252 inhabitants 1900 - 213 inhabitants 1950 - 194 inhabitants 1970 - 353 inhabitants 1980 - 768 inhabitants 2000 - 1478 inhabitants

Both under the rule of the Duchy of Milan and under the Confederates, when Ponte Capriasca belonged to the Bailiwick of Lugano, the village claimed itself as an independent municipality with its own statutes and rights (expanded in 1443 and confirmed in 1648). Early in the 16th Century, the village participated in the fierce fighting between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In 1455, it divided from the Tesserete parish to form an independent parish. The parish church of S. Ambrogio is first recorded in 1356 but is built on a Roman-era foundation. Its current form dates from a rebuilding of 1835, in which the old bell tower and the nave were incorporated.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Ponte Capriasca can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Ponte Capriasca 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)