Sauris

Sauris (Zahre in the local Germanic dialect, Sauris in Friulian) is a scattered municipality in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is the highest municipality in the region (1212 m above sea level) and is a German-speaking linguistic island. Despite being one of the smallest municipalities in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sauris is a popular summer and winter tourist resort.

Understand


Its municipal territory brings together the towns of Lateis, Sauris di Sopra, Sauris di Sotto (municipal seat), and the localities La Maina and Velt.

It is part of the Authentic Villages of Italy club and the Alpine Pearls association.

Geographical notes
Located in the Friulian Alps in the mountain region of Carnia in Val Lumiei, it boasts in its territory the presence of a magnificent lake (Lake Sauris), one of the largest artificial basins in Friuli, created by the damming of the Lumiei stream. The main peaks surrounding Sauris and its hamlets are: Col Gentile (2,075 m), Monte Tarondon (2,019 m), Monte Pieltinis (2,027 m), Crodon di Tiarfin (2,413 m), Monte Bìvera (2,474 m), Mount Zauf (2,245 m), Mount Tinisa (2,080 m).

Background
Legend has it that the community of Sauris was founded around the 13th-14th century by two German soldiers who, tired of the war, fled their country and took refuge in this isolated and impervious valley. It seems that the immigration actually occurred from the Lessach Valley and Pusteria in the 13th century.

The historian Giordano Brunettin dates the occupation of the area back to the mid-13th century. The first document attesting to the existence of the locality, a lost inheritance deed, dates back to 1280. Only a document from 1318 which speaks of Sauris, also concerning a feudal investiture, has been preserved.

Between 1941 and 1948 the Val Lumiei hydroelectric plant and its dam were built, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the war. Precisely due to the shortage of men that this entailed, 300 New Zealand prisoners of war were also involved in the construction. The locality La Maina was submerged by the artificial lake and its ruins remain underwater.

The community forms a linguistic island of the Germanic type, a true German-speaking enclave in Italian territory, which has been able to preserve itself, starting from its foundation, thanks to an isolation that lasted centuries. The typical local dialect, the "Saurano", retains archaic features compared to the Tyrolean dialects to which it is connected, but the population is generally trilingual, speaking both Italian and Friulian.

By car
Carnia - Tolmezzo motorway toll booth on the A23 Alpe Adria. The town can be reached from the state road 52 Carnica, then deviating onto the provincial road 73.

By train
Station in Carnia, a hamlet of Venzone, on the Pontebbana and Carnia-Villa Santina lines.

By bus
The SAF company manages extra-urban trips.

Events

 * Der orsh van der Belin (Belin's bottom). January 5.
 * Saurian Carnival. February.
 * Ham Festival. Second and third weekend of July.
 * Salty cheese festival (A Lateis). August.
 * International Music Festival. August.
 * Among the clouds. August. Theatrical project with workshops and shows.
 * Christmas markets. December.

Eat
It is known for the production of a particularly renowned smoked raw ham, Prosciutto di Sauris I.G.P., Sauris speck and an equally renowned craft beer (Zahre Beer).