A Short History of Sauris and Ampezzo
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The history of Sauris (Zahre in German) began with German immigration in the 13th century, evidenced by a 1280 document and, later, by a 1318 feudal investiture. According to the website The Fascinating history of Sauris,
According to local tales, the community of Sauris-Zahre was founded by two German soldiers who, tired of war, fled their homeland and found refuge in this isolated and nearly-inaccessible valley. At first, they sustained themselves by hunting, then by farming and breeding, clearing and tilling the land.
Like all legends, this one has also some truth to it: the first inhabitants came from the valleys of Eastern Tyrol or Kärnten (now in Austria) around mid-13th century. The oldest known document is dated 1280 and quotes, among the possessions of Awardo, lord of Socchieve, a flight of falcons and hawks “in the land of Sauris”, thus proving the existence of a hawking community within the valley at that time.
http://www.italy-tours-in-nature.com/history-of-sauris.html
Over centuries of isolation, the settlement developed a unique Germanic-speaking dialect and artisan traditions. The local language, "Saurano," is a Bavarian dialect that retains many archaic features. Like Frulan, it was an Italian dialect without being a dialect of Italian. The isolation fostered self-sufficiency, leading to a tradition of woodworking, artisan crafts, and a unique gastronomy, such as the famous "Prosciutto di Sauris." During the Fascist era, the population was subjected to Italianization measures, and Saurano was mostly replaced with Mussolini’s Italian, just a Frulan was in Zoppola.
In 1420, the whole of Friuli fell under the dominion of the Republic of Venice. The forests of Sauris were extensively exploited for the benefit of the Venetian Navy, which was in constant need of timber. Wood clearing, transportation, and carpentry activities provided job opportunities, attracting labor also from elsewhere. New residents added to the original families, evidence of which can be found in the presence of surnames not of German provenance. Petris might be one of these names, but that has not been verified.
A further occasion for external contacts was the practice of seasonal migration to supplement the meager family income. Men would leave town from autumn to spring, returning only for the summer farming and herding work in the high pastures. Petris men moved seasonally to the plains of Friuli and Veneto to work as weavers and tailors, while others went to Austria as woodsmen and carpenters, or to Germany, Switzerland and France as masons.
A road to Ampezzo was final built in the decade after World War I, connecting the Sauris valley to the outside world. It was completed in 1934. Between 1941 and 1948, the Val Lumiei hydroelectric plant and dam were constructed, creating an artificial lake—Lago di Sauris. Due to labor shortages during World War II, 300 New Zealand prisoners of war were involved in the dam's construction. The resulting lake submerged the town of La Maina, whose ruins remain underwater.
According to local tales, the community of Sauris-Zahre was founded by two German soldiers who, tired of war, fled their homeland and found refuge in this isolated and nearly-inaccessible valley. At first, they sustained themselves by hunting, then by farming and breeding, clearing and tilling the land.
Like all legends, this one has also some truth to it: the first inhabitants came from the valleys of Eastern Tyrol or Kärnten (now in Austria) around mid-13th century. The oldest known document is dated 1280 and quotes, among the possessions of Awardo, lord of Socchieve, a flight of falcons and hawks “in the land of Sauris”, thus proving the existence of a hawking community within the valley at that time.
http://www.italy-tours-in-nature.com/history-of-sauris.html
Over centuries of isolation, the settlement developed a unique Germanic-speaking dialect and artisan traditions. The local language, "Saurano," is a Bavarian dialect that retains many archaic features. Like Frulan, it was an Italian dialect without being a dialect of Italian. The isolation fostered self-sufficiency, leading to a tradition of woodworking, artisan crafts, and a unique gastronomy, such as the famous "Prosciutto di Sauris." During the Fascist era, the population was subjected to Italianization measures, and Saurano was mostly replaced with Mussolini’s Italian, just a Frulan was in Zoppola.
In 1420, the whole of Friuli fell under the dominion of the Republic of Venice. The forests of Sauris were extensively exploited for the benefit of the Venetian Navy, which was in constant need of timber. Wood clearing, transportation, and carpentry activities provided job opportunities, attracting labor also from elsewhere. New residents added to the original families, evidence of which can be found in the presence of surnames not of German provenance. Petris might be one of these names, but that has not been verified.
A further occasion for external contacts was the practice of seasonal migration to supplement the meager family income. Men would leave town from autumn to spring, returning only for the summer farming and herding work in the high pastures. Petris men moved seasonally to the plains of Friuli and Veneto to work as weavers and tailors, while others went to Austria as woodsmen and carpenters, or to Germany, Switzerland and France as masons.
A road to Ampezzo was final built in the decade after World War I, connecting the Sauris valley to the outside world. It was completed in 1934. Between 1941 and 1948, the Val Lumiei hydroelectric plant and dam were constructed, creating an artificial lake—Lago di Sauris. Due to labor shortages during World War II, 300 New Zealand prisoners of war were involved in the dam's construction. The resulting lake submerged the town of La Maina, whose ruins remain underwater.
