Gorduno Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Gorduno 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, Gorduno has an area of 9.22 square kilometers (3.56 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Bellinzona district, north of Bellinzona on the right bank of the Ticino river.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 7.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 72.0% - forested
 * 6.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.5% - rivers or lakes
 * 11.3% - 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 Gorduno was in 1182 as medius locus de Gorduno.

The population history of Gorduno is: 1591 - 400 inhabitants 1801 - 262 inhabitants 1850 - 299 inhabitants 1900 - 426 inhabitants 1950 - 467 inhabitants 2000 - 621 inhabitants

The territory around Gorduno was prehistorically settled, though very little is known about the earlier settlements. It was first mentioned in the dispute between the churches of Como and Milan, which was resolved by the verdict of 1202. In the verdict, Como received the little church of Saints Maurizio e Carpoforo in the so-called Castle of Gnosca, which, contrary to the name, was in the area of Gorduno. The church was strategically situated on the Ticino river. In the Late Middle Ages, Gorduno was a municipality in the County of Bellinzona. In 1374, the municipality was combined with Gnosca and placed under the control of Podestà, a canon of Milan. This placed the church under the Ambrosian Rite of the Diocese of Milan. The village had completely separated from the Roman Rite Church in Bellinzona by 1538-1583. The parish functions moved from the Castle Church to the village church of Saints Sebastiano e Rocco.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Gorduno can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Gorduno 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)