Brissago Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Brissago 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, Brissago has an area of 17.79 square kilometers (6.87 sq mi). The municipality is situated in the Locarno district, on the shores of Lake Maggiore. It is bordered by the Valmara and Valle di Creda and includes three mountainous shoreline sections. The three sections are separated by the Valli di Ponte and the Sacro Monte. Brissago lies on the road to Ascona along the Italian border. It includes: The 13 sections are dispersed in the hills on roads leading to Mount Gridone (2,188 m (7,178 ft)). On the opposite side of Mount Gridone is the Centovalli.
 * the village of Brissago
 * the 13 sections of:
 * Caccio
 * Cadogno
 * Cartogna
 * Gadero
 * Incella
 * Madonna di Ponte
 * Nevedone
 * Noveledo
 * Piazza
 * Piodina
 * Porta
 * Rossorino
 * Tecetto
 * the two islands Isola Grande and Sant'Apollinare

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 7.0% - agricultural purposes
 * 66.6% - forested
 * 7.0% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.8% - rivers or lakes
 * 19.2% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Brissago was in 1289 as Brixago. Earlier, it was known by the German name of Brisa, though this is no longer used..

The population history of Brissago is: 1578 - 1675 inhabitants 1801 - 1330 inhabitants 1850 - 1266 inhabitants 1860 - 1136 inhabitants 1900 - 1639 inhabitants 1930 - 1577 inhabitants 1950 - 1931 inhabitants 1970 - 2120 inhabitants 1990 - 1909 inhabitants 2000 - 1833 inhabitants

The village church was under the control of the diocese of Milan as part of the old parish of Cannobio. The Church of SS Pietro e Paolo was first recorded in the 13th century. It was a parish church in 1335, and in 1865, it was given the title of a priory church. The existing building is from the 16th-17th century, and it was renovated in 1961. The island of Sant'Apollinare was under the Ambrosian Rite, while on the Isola Grande (Church of S. Pancrazio), which was part of the parish church of Locarno and the territory of Ascona, the Roman Rite was followed. On this island in the 13th century, the Humiliati order established a monastery. After the order was overpowered in 1571, their property was given to the hospital in Locarno.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Brissago can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Brissago 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)