Morcote Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Morcote 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
The municipality of Morcote is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton. It is located between Lake Lugano and Mount Arbostora. Morcote (as of the 2004/09 survey) had an area of 2.79 km² (1.08 square miles). The land use was divided up as follows:
 * 2.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 81.5% - forested
 * 16.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 2.6% - rivers or lakes
 * 2.2% - unproductive land

History
In 926, Morcote was first mentioned with the name of Murcau. In 1353 as Murchoe and in 1453 as Murchote. Morcote is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton.

The population history of Morcote is: 1591 - 500 inhabitants 1643 - 472 inhabitants 1769 - 500 inhabitants 1801 - 400 inhabitants 1850 - 481 inhabitants 1860 - 493 inhabitants 1870 - 461 inhabitants 1880 - 542 inhabitants 1890 - 524 inhabitants 1900 - 515 inhabitants 1910 - 535 inhabitants 1920 - 513 inhabitants 1930 - 493 inhabitants 1941 - 513 inhabitants 1950 - 593 inhabitants 1960 - 597 inhabitants 1970 - 553 inhabitants 1980 - 604 inhabitants 1990 - 700 inhabitants 2000 - 754 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 73.6% were Roman Catholic
 * 11.5% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 12.2% belong to another church

In 1583, Morcote became a parish. In the 13th century, the church of Santa Maria del Sasso was built. It was rebuilt in 1462. Then renovated in 1758. In 1676, the Saint Anthony of Padua chapel was built. In 1750, a large cemetery was added. Before 1591, the chapel of Sant' Antonio Abata was consecrated.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Morcote can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Morcote 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)