Andreis

Andreis is home to one of the headquarters of the Friulian Dolomites Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The stone houses in the village and its hamlets preserve the typical architecture of the dalz, the external wooden balconies. A well-maintained network of paths at low altitudes allows everyone, in any season, to visit the entire municipal territory on foot, including the hamlets of Alcheda, Bosplans, Prapiero and Sott’Anzas.

The first documented historical information about Andreis and the villages in the area dates back to 996. The local economy has been based on sheep farming and agriculture for centuries. The area is full of caves or caverns once used as a shelter by shepherds, called andres: hence, perhaps, the name of the village. In one of these caves a group of Garibaldians found refuge after the Navarons uprising.

In the 18th century, wealth came from the cultivation and smuggling of tobacco, the production of which was prohibited by the Serenissima. The isolation of the valley made this clandestine activity possible. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, with the construction of the Valcellina road, in fact, the only link with the plain was the mule track that passes par Crous (for the Cross).
The typical products are salted cheese and peta. The territory covers almost 27 km², at an average altitude of 455 metres above sea level and has about 250 inhabitants.