Genealogy in Antillo
Tracing your Italian roots back to Antillo (in Messina province, Sicilia region) begins with understanding which records exist and where they are preserved. On this page you’ll find a clear guide to the civil, parish and historical sources available for genealogy in Antillo.
Antillo family history at a glance
- Region: Sicilia
- Province: Messina
- Type of records: civil and parish records
- Civil registration: from 1809 onwards
- Parish records: often older than civil records (in some cases from the 1600s)
How to research your ancestry in Antillo
Thanks to its network of local experts, Italianside has developed significant experience in genealogical research in the province of Messina. For this reason, over the years it has become a reliable reference for those wishing to reconnect with their Italian roots and could be a key partner in the success of your research too. You can read the feedbacks of our customers on our testimonials page
Our experts in Sicilia region, conducted genealogy research on historical families from Antillo, involving many surnames traditionally found in the town, including branches of the following families: Bongiorno, Crupi, Di Pietro, Lo Conti, Lo Giudice, Lo Schiavo, Mastroeni, Muscolino, Palella, Paratore, Pinto, Restifo, Santoro, Smiroldo, Zizzo and others.
Many records relating to families and individuals are already stored in our databases and include, in addition to names and dates, further information such as occupations, residential addresses, and key family and social relationships within the Antillo community in past centuries.
Part of the information used by ItalianSide in genealogy research derives from a proprietary archive of on-site research conducted over many years in Antillo and Sicilia by our experts. This archive includes studies, family trees, and data not available online, such as cross-referenced family relationships, occupational histories, deciphered or translated documents, residential patterns, and visual documentation.
Research activities may include all major sources available at municipal, provincial, and regional level:
• civil records
• parish registers
• notarial archives
• military records
• cadastral and property records
• historical and photographic sources available in private archives
Direct access to local archives and a deep understanding of the local context allow for more complete and accurate results. Research may be carried out using all available sources in both public and private archives.
ItalianSide research: Beyond Names and Dates
Italian genealogy is deeply local. It can’t be reduced only about collecting birth and death dates.
In Sicilia, every municipality — including Antillo — has its own archival history, record‑keeping traditions, and unique documentary sources. This is why Italianside is able to help you in your Italian ancestry research, through a national network of local experts, each specialized in the archives of their specific territory.
Our researcher who works in Antillo and in the Province of Messina knows how to navigate local civil, parish, military, and notarial records, uncovering details that go far beyond basic dates. By combining national coordination and methodology with deep local expertise, our researcher will bring your ancestors’ stories back to life within the history of the Antillo community.
Civil Records (Stato Civile) in Antillo
In towns and villages of Sicilia and in Messina province, civil registration offices were established in 1809. This means you can often find your ancestors’ civil records in the Town Hall archives of Antillo from that year onwards.
(If your goal is to obtain Italian citizenship and you need official certificates from Antillo, please follow this link.)
If you know that your ancestors lived in Antillo during the past centuries, the City Office of Antillo is usually the first place to start your family research. Our local expert can access these records on your behalf and interpret them correctly.
- Professions: discover what your ancestors did for a living.
- Addresses: find the street or house where the family lived in Antillo.
- Family links: identify parents, witnesses and neighbours that appear in the records.
- Signatures and notes: see how your ancestors signed and read any marginal annotations.
If you prefer to contact the Town Hall by yourself, we suggest reading our genealogy tips for Italy. They include practical advice for research in Sicilia and specifically in Antillo.
Population trends in Antillo
The chart below shows the demographic trends in Antillo from the Italian Unification (1861). Understanding how many people lived in the town over time is useful when interpreting migration and family movements.
Church Records in Antillo
Church archives in Messina province often preserve information that predates civil records. Parish registers include baptisms, marriages and burials and sometimes allow you to push your family tree back into the 1700s and 1600s.
In many areas of Sicilia, parish registers began around the 1500s. These manuscripts are not easy to access from abroad and can be hard to read without specific training.
Our local genealogists, graduated in history and archival studies, can consult the parish archives of Antillo on your behalf and reconstruct your family history through the centuries.
In case you want to visit churches, these are the addresses of parishes active today in Antillo:
S. MARIA DELLA PROVVIDENZA – Piazza Maria Ss. della Provvidenza
Notary records and other historical sources
Another important source of information is represented by notary documents, which preserve wills, dowries, property sales and contracts. These records are usually kept in provincial and State Archives and can provide valuable details on the social and economic life of your family.
The provincial archive is:
Archivio di Stato di Messina
Address: Via Giuseppe la Farina, 293, 98124 Messina
Phone: +39090 670089
Military records
Conscription lists and service records documenting physical descriptions, dates and places of enlistment, units and ranks held, periods of service, military postings, transfers, and movements, often providing detailed insight into an individual’s life beyond civil registration.
Cadastral and property records in Antillo
Historical cadastral and land records used to identify property ownership, track real estate transfers over time, and confirm the historical presence of families within Antillo. ItalianSide provides professional assistance in accessing and interpreting these records, where available.
Historical and photographic sources available in private archives
Historical photographs, prints, and documents from private collections—including ItalianSide’s archive of vintage images from Antillo and Sicilia region are available. Old pictures add significant value to your family history research and offer a real sense of the places where your ancestors once lived.
Planning a visit to Antillo
From our experience, if you plan to visit Antillo we always recommend starting the research months before your arrival. This way you avoid spending your holidays in offices or churches dealing with bureaucracy.
Remember that archives are not open to the general public and officers or priests are not required by law to grant direct access to the records.
With the results collected by our genealogist before your trip, you will have more time to enjoy the town and its surroundings, walking in the footsteps of your ancestors.
Professional help for research in Antillo
If you need professional support from our local genealogist in the Antillo area, write to antillo@italianside.com or fill the form here. Our expert will study your request and reply with a research plan and a quote tailored to your family history.
Messages from other visitors in Antillo
Here below you can read messages from other visitors in the Antillo forum. If you simply want to discuss genealogy in Antillo with other people, feel free to leave a message.
My father Onofrio LoGiudice immigrated to the US in 1911 He married daughter of a Crupi also from Antillo we co-located with cousins from there also the Puglisi family and the Lo Rocca family . we all have resided in Wadsworth, Ohio other family”s were the Smiraldos, Di Pietros, and Crisafulli family. enjoy your trip and say hello to anyone you meet with one of these names.
Hi Tony.
Just happened upon this page and see your father was a LoGiudice. My maternal grandfather Santos LoGiudice was born in Antillo in 1896 and emigrated as a young man to the Albany area of New York.
I don’t know a whole lot more yet but hope to.
Wonder if they knew each other?
Hello! My father was born in Antillo in 1924. His father was Antonio Crupi and his mother Santa Smiroldo. I have been to Antillo twice and it is a lovely town with warm people. I have many relatives still there snd have met most of them. All of the names you mention are familiar to me as being from Antillo. My father came to the US in 1931 with his mother and two brothers. His father had come earlier with other relatives and others from Antillo and they settled in Washington DC.
Hi! I am a Sicilian-America coming to Sicily in a couple weeks. My great-grandparents were from Antillo. They moved to the United States in 1920. My great-grandfather was Carmelo Crisafulli and great-grandmother Domenica Smiroldo. I am going to visit Antillo. Do you have suggestions for me on who to talk to about finding relatives? I would appreciate any advice you have. Thank you. Lane Selman
Hi Lane,
Just found this website with your post by accident.
Like your grandmother, my father was a Smiroldo, born in Antillo on Dec 16, 1889, first name Santo (sometimes referred to as Santi), immigrating to the U.S. in 1912, after service in the Italian army. I was told by my father and one of his brothers that the name Smiroldo is so common (for a small town) that they used to add a suffix after Smiroldo to distinguish between the different Smiroldo “branches” in the town. I assume that one reason was to avoid intermarriage within the same branches. My father’s branch was “Smiroldo Spisa”. I remember him talking about another branch “Smiroldo Barone”. My father’s brother said that there were seven of these branches in or around Antillo. A number of years ago, I met a cousin (born in Antillo) whose mother was my father’s sister. The cousin married a man from Antillo whose surname was Smiroldo (but I forgot which branch … it wasn’t Spisa).
The closest I got to Antillo was Taormina. The manager of the hotel there told me that his wife was a Smiroldo and that she came from Casalvecchio, a town very close to Antillo. BTW, the town where the scenes in Sicily from “The Godfather” were filmed is Savoca, which is very close to Antillo and Casalvecchio.
My paternal grandfather (Onofrio) was the son of Giuseppe Smiroldo and Domenica Costa. My paternal grandmother (Santa Palella) was the daughter of Giuseppe Palella and Domenica Intersimone. If my memory serves me well, this info came from their gravestones in Antillo.
The reason that I am boring you with all of these details is to see if, from your visit to Antillo, you were able to find any info related to the origins of the Smiroldo’s in Antillo and can expand whatever I said above about the Smiroldo “branches” and origins. Also, I wonder if the name Smiroldo is a Sicilian “corruption” of the Italian word “smeraldo” which means emerald.
If you didn’t already know any of the above, I hope it helps. If not, just forgive the crazy meanderings of an 84 year old man, me.
Take care,
Joe
I completely found both of these posts by accident but all of the names are coming up familiar on an Ancestry chart. My father was born in 1942 in New Jersey, he does not know who his father is although he just found this out at 77. All of the dna matches trace back to Antillo,Sicily.
The closest match is a Mannarelli but we match Palella, Santoro, Rizzo. Does anyone know where I could find a record of someone from this name who would have been in the US in 1941 perhaps WW2? Any info may help. Thank you.