Palermo, Italy, Marriages, 1820-1895

The Italian port city of Palermo and all of Sicily were involved in several upheavals of power between 1820 and 1861. After a successful revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi against the House of Bourbons in 1860, Sicily and Palermo were included in the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Over that time and up until 1895 this database contains records of more than 200,000 marriages in the city of Palermo spanning the different rulers and early Italian rule.

The marriage records themselves stretch from 1820 through 1895. This index was taken from microfilm reproductions of the original documents housed in Palermo. The time period also covers a major immigration to America. Between 1850 and 1930, 4.5 million Italians immigrated to the United States and many of them came from southern Italy, with Palermo being Sicily’s main port city. By the 1920 U.S. Census there were 6 million people who were listed as being born in Italy.

The records, which shouldn’t be considered a complete list of all marriages over this time, contain:

• Groom/bride’s name
• Parents’ names
• Spouse’s name
• Marriage date
• District
• Volume
• Number