What is Sauris known for?

IGP smoked ham produced by the Wolf family since 1862, beech-wood smoked, still hand-salted and hand-processed in the village. Saurano, a medieval Tyrolean dialect, has been spoken in the village since its founding by Pustertal settlers in the thirteenth century. Brewery founded in 1999 by brothers Sandro and Massimo Petris, named for the village's German name; one of Italy's first craft breweries.

When is the best time to visit Sauris?

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. June through September is the high summer window, when temperatures at 1,212 meters rarely exceed 22 degrees and the Carnic ridges open for hiking. The lake fills in late spring as snowmelt comes off the Lumiei catchment. December through March is winter season: not a major ski resort, but enough cross-country and freeride terrain to fill the albergo diffuso through the Christmas and Carnival weeks. April, May, October, and November are the shoulder months, when many of the village's accommodations close and the road from Ampezzo can be subject to snow and rockfall. The Wolf smoking houses run all year.

Sauris is a comune in the province of Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, about 82 kilometers from Udine.

How do I get to Sauris?

From Udine, Sauris is roughly 82 km by road.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Udine

Sauris

A 1,212-meter German-speaking island in the Carnic Alps, second-highest commune in Friuli, where Tyrolean settlers founded the village around the thirteenth century.

Known for

PROSCIUTTO DI SAURIS
IGP smoked ham produced by the Wolf family since 1862, beech-wood smoked, still hand-salted and hand-processed in the village.
GERMAN LANGUAGE ISLAND
Saurano, a medieval Tyrolean dialect, has been spoken in the village since its founding by Pustertal settlers in the thirteenth century.
ZAHRE BEER
Brewery founded in 1999 by brothers Sandro and Massimo Petris, named for the village's German name; one of Italy's first craft breweries.

When to visit

Best · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Osvaldo di Northumbria, 5 August

Why come

Sauris (Zahre in the local dialect) lies at 1,212 meters in a high valley of the Carnic Alps, the second-highest commune in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The two main hamlets, Sauris di Sopra and Sauris di Sotto, were founded around the thirteenth century by Tyrolean settlers from the Pustertal; the Saurano dialect they brought with them preserves archaic features of medieval Tyrolean German, and the village has held its language island status into the present. The Lago di Sauris, a turquoise reservoir, was completed in 1948 by the Lumiei hydroelectric dam, 136 meters high, the tallest in Italy at the time; the village of La Maina lies underwater.

The Wolf family has produced Prosciutto di Sauris IGP, smoked over beech wood, since 1862; the brewery Birra di Sauris opened in 1999 and trades under the Zahre name. The commune operates an albergo diffuso, the scattered hotel model, lodging guests in restored stone-and-larch village houses across the two settlements.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Sauris’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

By subscribing you agree to Substack’s Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and our Information collection notice.

What to see

Lago di Sauris
Turquoise artificial reservoir completed in 1948 by the Lumiei dam, 136 meters tall, the highest in Italy at the time of construction.
Sauris di Sopra
Upper hamlet at 1,400 meters, with the Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the oldest church in the valley, dating from the thirteenth century.
Sauris di Sotto
Main lower hamlet at 1,212 meters, anchored by the Chiesa di Sant'Osvaldo and the original albergo diffuso restored stone houses.
Chiesa di Sant'Osvaldo
Parish church of Sauris di Sotto, holding a fifteenth-century gilded wooden triptych and Saint Oswald's relic from the eighth century.
Sentiero della Pace
Walking route through the WWI Carnic front above the valley, with restored trenches and high mountain views over the Lumiei.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Sauris fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Living here

Population 389
Very remotei
Pharmacy in town
Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
Nearest airport Venice, 2 h 8 min drive
Regional capital Trieste, 2 h 4 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 1212 m
Population: 389
Surface area: 41.49 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Udine

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

Close by