The town's name derives from "Savir, a word of a pre-Roman dialect that means" river ". The main centre is also known as "Zahra", which in Germanic dialect means "tear".
Municipality in the province of Udine, on the border with Veneto, inhabited by a small German-speaking community, that have characterized its traditions and buildings, made mostly of wood. It is the town situated the higher part of the Friuli Region: built in the mountain region of Carnia, precisely in the Lumiei Valley. The centre is located on the shores of Lake Sauris, a vast reservoir, and is divided into two main districts: Sauris di Sopra (upper) and Sauris di Sotto (lower), and a series of small villages scattered in the nearby. It is surrounded by several mountains, including the Tinisa, the Zauf, the Bivera, the Tarondon and the Col Gentile. Although extremely small, it is a popular tourist destination all year round, famous for the production of delicatessen, such as ham, bacon and beer. The countryside offers numerous picturesque excursion and trekking routes of easy practicability, while in the winter months it also proposes skiing possibilities.
According to the local legends, the center was founded by two German soldiers, that between the XIII and XIV centuries, settled in the area, after one of the several battles, of which this area was the scenario. A strong immigration is attested in the XIII century, evidenced by a text of 1280, now lost, in which the son of Socchieve, Raypreto proclaimed that the town was ceded to him in fief by the Patriarch of Aquileia. The area was submitted to the Venetian Republic in 1420, then ceded to Austria in the XVIII century, under whose domain it remained, except for a brief French parentheses, until 1866, when it was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.
Attractions:
- the Church of San Lorenzo in Sauris di Sopra, in Gothic-German style, features a polygonal apse interrupted by three single-pointed arches. The building is flanked by a sturdy stone Bell tower, with a square base, topped by an extremely pointed conical spire. Inside is preserved a fine polychrome and gilded altar of the XVI century, masterpiece of the artist Parth;
- the Church of St. Osvaldo in Sauris, inside which are preserved the relics of the Saint and a wooden carved and painted altar, artwork of Brunico in 1524. The church is flanked by a tall Bell Tower with a square base;
- the Church of St. Joseph in La Maina;
- the Church of the Holy Trinity in Lateis;
- the Parish Church of Sauris di Sotto;
- the splendid artificial lake;
- the historiographical Museum Center of St. Osvaldo in Sauris di Sotto;
- the Ethnographic Center in Sauris di Sopra.