I think I may be on the brink of dicovering the comune of my g.grandfather Giovanni Cristina!!! The name Cortina has been mentioned by an elderly relative. Even though Cortina today is in Veneto, after searching through historical maps of the territories of the Austrian Hungarian Empire it seems Cortina was inside the border of Tirolo back in the 1800's!!!!
I will write to the Sindaco in the next day but I need to get my mind around what I need to request from him. As well as the nascita I would like to request the Family certificate.Can someone please help me compose a letter?
Any info about Cortina,historical and modern greatly appreciated. On the net it seem to be a ski/tourism area.
Does anyone have ancestors from Cortina or family there today?

Edit ........ deleted incorrect information.

Elizabeth

There is one thing to say: Cortina d'Ampezzo (aka Cortina) is in Veneto region and is under the province of Belluno. Cortina all'Adige (aka Cortina sulla Strada del Vino aka Kurtinig) is in Trentino Alto Adige region and in Bolzano province.
Now I think you are looking for the first one which was under Austrian domination as Ausria dominated Northern Italy from Triest to Novara but Cortina d'Ampezza was not Tirol.
The LDS microfilm, if I'm not wrong, are for Cortina all'Adige and this was/is considered South Tirol by Austria but is now in Italy.
Cortina d'Ampezzo is a very famous and expensive ski resort. All famous actors and VIPs go to Cortina .
The surname Cristina doesn't seem to exists now in Cortina but mainly in the province of Vicenza. Please take into consideration that "Cristina" is also a first name in Italy. Also, as a surname, you can find it in Novara province (Piemonte=Piedmont region).

Ada

Thanks for your reply.
Yes I see what you mean. With the information we have on documents here in New Zealand e.g. marriage cert. birth certs. the locations named are Tirol, Austria and Trento. Looking on a map I see that Trento is not that far away from Cortina all'Adige. Probably back then a person would put the largest nearby town as the place they came from. The whole region was known as Tirolo.Seems to be making perfect sense to me!

Cortina seems to part of a wine valley today.
The surname is definitely Cristina. Today the family name is Christini and all the Christini's in New Zealand are the descendants of Giovanni.His mother's name was Santa Luchi and his father Giovanni was a boatbuilder.

So, if your Cortina is the one in Trentino Alto Adige, province of Bolzano, then the LDS has microfilmed BMD as Billie said. This little town was under Trento province but went under Bolzano in 1946. The province of Bolzano is bilingual and the town is now "Cortina sulla Strada del Vino" (Italian) and "Kurtnig an der Winestrasse"(German). This is not the famous ski resort but the area is well known for wine production.

On this site you can read something on the area

Wine Road

Ada

Thanks so much Ada,
I am feeling very excited about this.Looked at the wine site,it looks very beautiful and I see there is a lake there! My g.greatgrandfathers father was a boatbuilder!
I can't actuallly see Billie's post , it just says Edit... Incorrect information. I have already written to the Sindaco of the comune to request the search for notices of birth and baptism.I wonder if you can you order the LDS films in New Zealand?
If anyone on this forum has been to Cortina sulla Strada del Vino please post and tell me about it!

Here is the link for the film you can order from the LDS

www.familysearch.org/e...chenbuch++

Here is the link to find a Family History Center (FHC)

www.familysearch.org/e...et_fhc.asp

It takes anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to receive films and the cost is appox. $5.50 USD

And NZ has quite a few FHC's

Thanks Elizabeth.

You're welcome Rosanna. Please keep us updated.