Kratten

A small cluster on the slopes above the old road, which twentieth-century development left almost intact. The sources say nothing about the origin of the name. The regional road passes further down and does not touch the cluster.

Kratten is known for what stands next to it: the bottom station of the Miravalle chairlift, the first of the two sections that climb to Sappada 2000, in operation since 1982. “Sappada 2000”, in listings, is not a place where people live: it is the ski area on the sunny side, with the hut high up. It means “near the lift station”, that is, here, in Fontana or in Soravia.

The hamlet has the small chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, from 1920, a mural dedicated to the Sappada Carnival and the base of the sports association that runs the cross-country trails.

The historical descriptions call Kratten “well exposed to the sun”, and that is true for most of the year. Not in December. On 21 December, according to our calculation, the hamlet's map point receives about 3 h 25 min of direct sun: Monte Siera covers it until about 11:50, and the sun then stays until 15:10. In February the situation turns round and Kratten is among the hamlets with the most hours; on 21 March the figure is about 10 h 30 min, on 21 June about 13 h 10 min.

The two statements do not contradict each other: they refer to different months. Anyone using the house at Christmas should know it; anyone using it for a ski week in February or March, much less so. It is a calculation on the terrain model, under a clear sky, without trees or buildings, for the hamlet's map point.

Historic timber houses: one dates from 1634, among the oldest documented in the village; another is made up of four portions; there is a barn with hayloft whose front is in logs right from the ground, and the kèisn, the drying rack for cereals, rebuilt. They are buildings of the historic zone, each with its protection grade.

The houses are few and something for sale is rare. Next to the cluster the land-use plan provides for a completion area, buildable only with a detailed plan and not yet implemented, and between Kratten and Soravia a “connecting hub” between the lifts: services for skiers, car parks, new tourist accommodation. Anyone buying a house with an open view should ask for the planning designation of the neighbouring land, not only of their own.

For the Italian Revenue Agency Kratten is in the “peripheral” zone, the historic part: standard homes between €1,900/m² and €2,700/m² (OMI, normal condition, gross floor area). It is a range, not the price of a house.

The chairlift is a few steps away; the Pian dei Nidi chairlift, on the level ground below Soravia, and the cross-country stadium are a few minutes away. The food shop and the dairy are in neighbouring Fontana. The town hall, post office and pharmacy are in Bach, on the other side of the village: on foot it is a long walk. In 2025 a car park was opened next to the lift station.

The Region has allocated €31,000,000 for a gondola from Kratten to the Sappada 2000 hut and for two chairlifts higher up. The gondola would replace today's two chairlift sections. The opening has been indicated for December 2027, “barring unforeseen events”.

What we do not know, and what matters for anyone buying now: we have found no news of a tender, an award or a construction site later than December 2025; in summer 2026 the lift stayed closed for scheduled works; it is not confirmed whether the two chairlifts will run in winter 2026/27. The project was first announced in 2022: the schedule has already slipped once.

If the work goes ahead, Kratten will have a major construction site next to it and, afterwards, the daily flow of skiers. We make no forecasts on prices: no source supports them.