Wikipedia
The Sopravissana is a breed of domestic sheep from the province of Macerata, in the Marche in central Italy. It originates from the area of the comuni of Visso, from which the name derives, Castelsantangelo sul Nera and Ussita, in the Monti Sibillini, and was traditionally raised mostly in that area. Herds under transhumant management ranged into Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria. The Sopravissana derives from the cross-breeding of local Apennine ewes with Merino rams in the second half of the 18th century, and with Rambouillet Merino stock. It is larger than the Vissana breed from the same area.
It is one of the seventeen autochthonous Italian sheep breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders. The breed numbered about 1,200,000 in 1960, and 765,000 in 1970; by 1995 the number had fallen to about 6000. In 2013 total numbers recorded for the breed were 5699.