Monte Carasso Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Monte Carasso 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, Monte Carasso has an area of 9.64 square kilometers (3.72 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Bellinzona district, on the right bank of the Ticino river. It is part of the agglomeration of Bellinzona.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 8.4% - agricultural purposes
 * 61.3% - forested
 * 6.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.6% - rivers or lakes
 * 18.5% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Monte Carasso was in 1348 as Monte Carassio.

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

The population history of Monte Carasso is: 1591 - 709 inhabitants 1784 - 600 inhabitants 1801 - 496 inhabitants 1850 - 619 inhabitants 1900 - 956 inhabitants 1950 - 1064 inhabitants 1990 - 1610 inhabitants 2000 - 2133 inhabitants

In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the residents of Monte Casasso had a lasting right to appoint representatives in the Council of Bellinzona. The inhabitants that made up the municipality in four different villages lived mainly in the various groups on the mountain. As of 1506, the villagers of Monte Carasso were given transportation rights across the Ticino river. The ferry was a significant link across the river, as the Torretta Bridge was destroyed in 1515 and wasn't rebuilt until 1815. In 1634, the church of Monte Carasso divided from the parish of Bellinzona. The parish church of Saints Bernardino and Jerome was probably built in the late 15th century on the site of a Roman oratory and connected with an Augustinian convent. The church was divided from the convent of San Maria Elisabetta in Como in 1555 and then was restored in 1905–1906. The church of San Bernardo dates back to the 12th-13th centuries and contains significant frescoes of the Seregneser masters from the 15th century. The chapel of Madonna della Valle was constructed in the 17th century. The Church of Saints Trinità was completed in 1655.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Monte Carasso can be accessed here. The census taker left several pages for Monte Carasso but nothing was recorded on them.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Monte Carasso 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)