Les Echines Dessous (1,207m) and Dessus (1,250m)

The word "échines" is to be compared to the word "mountain" in a way, for both of these villages have been built up the slope beneath the Prainan peak. The venerable old villages Les Echines Dessous and Dessus already featured on the 1732 mappe sarde, only forming a single district prior to the French Revolution. During Napoleon I's reign, they were separated to create a school in each village. These schools stayed open until 1958 in Les Echines Dessus and 1997 in Les Echines Dessous. Village life revolved around livestock rearing and crop farming, with production of milk, hemp, wheat, oats and potatoes for example.