How do I get genealogical records from Italy?

[ItaliaHeritage]

I have done Genealogical research on my own Italian ancestors, and I got back as far as the 1700s or mid 1600s for some people.

I would like to go back even further. Is there a way to do this? Or will I need to contact someone like a priest in the area where my ancestors were from to help find the records of people like who they married, when they were born, died, etc.?

[johnnyonthespot]

Once you get back to the mid-1800's everything gets decidedly more difficult and a great deal will depend on the area (Northern Italy vs. Southern Italy) and even the specific comune. As some point, you will need to engage the services of a local genealogist to make any progress at all.

Where in Italy did your ancestors originate?

[carubia]

How did you get back to the 1600s for Italian ancestors? That is before civil records were kept and even before the birth of anyone who still would've been alive when civil records were first kept. Did you census records? Church records? Hire a local genealogist? Those would be the sources you would use to go back further, too.

[ItaliaHeritage]

How did you get back to the 1600s for Italian ancestors? That is before civil records were kept and even before the birth of anyone who still would've been alive when civil records were first kept. Did you census records? Church records? Hire a local genealogist? Those would be the sources you would use to go back further, too.

I searched records and the one genealogical site I use has records going back centuries on it.

[Dbiv21]

Can you share that website? I am looking for relatives from Reggio, Ortona and Gioiosa Marea

[lathompson]

We have records back to the 1600s for our family from Greci in Avellino. Some cousins have made made copies and also translations of what is available at the church. We are very fortunate. I wish I had it for other great grandparents.

[rp76226]

The Greci records are amazing and the decades long work of an American who organized it. No other commune has records like these on the internet. Here's the link - http://grecicousins.com/1.html