Bellinzona Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Bellinzona 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, the town Bellinzona has an area of 19.15 square kilometers (7.39 sq mi).
 * Bellinzona is located in the valley of the river Ticino, at an altitude of 240 metres (790 ft).
 * The town center lies about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) east of the river, with the urban area restricted to the bottom and lower slopes of the valley.
 * However, the municipality's boundaries spread up both sides of the valley, to altitudes of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft) to the west, and 2,195 metres (7,201 ft) to the east.
 * The town is situated at a point at which the river Ticino, which has been flowing in a generally southerly direction, makes a turn to the west, to flow through the wide Pionoa di Magadino before entering the Lake Maggiore, and after it finally reaches to the Italian Po Valley and Lombardy.
 * Upstream, several valleys extend into the high Alps, with access to northern Switzerland over or through the Passo del San Gottardo via the Valle Leventina, the upper valley of the Ticino, and further to the west with access to the Valais over the Nufenen Pass via the Val Bedretto, and access to the Grisonian Surselva of the Anterior Rhine via the Valle di Blenio over the Lukmanier Pass.
 * The river Moesa, running down the Valle Mesolcina from the San Bernardino Pass with access to the Gresionian valley Rheinwald of the Posterior Rhine, connects the Ticino on the northern boundary of the town.
 * To the south the Monte Ceneri Pass crosses the Lugano Prealps to give entrance to Lake Lugano and an alternate route to Lombardy, whilst the San Jorio Pass provides a possible route east to the upper Lake Como.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 22.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 62.5% - forested
 * 23.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 2.5% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.5% - unproductive land

On 2 April 2017, these former neighboring municipalities merged into Bellinzona:
 * Camorino
 * Claro
 * Giubiasco
 * Gnosca
 * Gorduno
 * Gudo
 * Moleno
 * Monte Carasso
 * Pianezzo
 * Preonzo
 * Sant'Antonio
 * Sementina

History
The first mention of Bedretto was in 1210 as Bedoledo.

The population history of Bedretto is: 1567 - 38 hearths 1745 - 293 inhabitants 1798 - 594 inhabitants 1850 - 388 inhabitants 1900 - 257 inhabitants 1930 - 275 inhabitants 1950 - 213 inhabitants 2000 - 72 inhabitants 2010 - 64 inhabitants

In 1906, pre-Roman graves and a Roman-era villa and coins were found in Bedretto. The presumption, that it was originally part of Airolo, could not be confirmed by any available documents. In 1227, when the alpine pastures of Leventina valley were divided among the communities, Bedretto had dependent, surrounding farms and hamlets but was not given any alpine pastures. In 1227, Bedretto is also mentioned as a separate parish. The parish church of Saints Martiri Maccabei in the settlement of Villa was rebuilt after its destruction by an avalanche in 1594. The existing building dates from the 19th Century.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Bellinzona can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Bellinzona 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)