Claro Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Claro 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, Claro has an area of 21.22 square kilometers (8.19 sq mi). It consists of the Claro village and several scattered, small settlements along the left side of the Riviera valley.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 11.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 72.1% - forested
 * 5.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.3% - rivers or lakes
 * 7.0% - 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 Claro was in 1120 as locus Clari.

The population history of Claro is: 1567 - 800 inhabitants 1801 - 829 inhabitants 1850 - 962 inhabitants 1900 - 920 inhabitants 1950 - 934 inhabitants 2000 - 2159 inhabitants

There are many churches in the Claro area: Above the village rose a Marian church (documented from the 13th century)and to which was added the Benedictine convent. Currently it has 15-20 nuns. Founded in 1490, by the nun Scolastica de Vincemalis from the Milan monastery of San Quirico (called Bocchetto). The monastery soon became an abbey and then devoted itself to the education of young girls. The oldest list of female pupils dates from 1560-1561. During the 17th century, the building was enlarged; in the side chapel of the church, there is a wood-carved Pietà from the 15th century. In 1559, a papal decree entrusted some of the nuns with reorganizing the dilapidated monastery in Seedorf (UR), then in decline.
 * The church of Saints-Nazaire-et-Celse in the hamlet of Scubiago (mentioned in the 13th century)
 * The parish church of Saints-Sébastien-et-Roch (1567)
 * The Saint-Laurent church in Cassero (mentioned in the 13th century)
 * Saint-Ambroise church in Brogo (mentioned in 1404)
 * The church dedicated to Mary and Saint Satyr (mentioned in 1504)

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Claro can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Claro 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)