Sauris di Sotto

Sauris Zahre, the "Alpine Pearl", dotted with malghe (shepherd's huts) and pastures, is located between 1,000 and 1,400 metres above sea level and is the highest in the entire Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. It is said that this German-speaking community was founded by settlers from Austria, who brought with them the customs and traditions of their homeland. The name of Sauris is linked to that of its exquisite PGI ham, lightly smoked according to the traditional Sauris recipe. Ideal to accompany the ham is the local, raw, unpasteurized and unfiltered beer. The vastness of the alpine pastures makes it possible to produce the tasty malga cheese, and the production of the sweet little fruits and derivatives is also very popular. The particular environmental conditions and the difficulties in connecting with neighbouring countries have allowed the maintenance of consistent traditions both in the spoken language, a High German dialect, and in the gastronomy and in the religious and popular festivals, such as the Carnival rite, whose protagonists here are the Rölar, covered in soot and equipped with noisy cowbells, and the Kheirar, armed with a large broom.