[Tagging] Flat area in the mountains

[solitone]

> Joseph Eisenberg <joseph.eisenberg at gmail.com> ha scritto:
> natural=plateau is used in a variety of ways, but generally it is a mostly flat area which is at higher elevation than some of the surrounding areas. 


Yes, “plateau” is a french word, and we translate it to “altopiano” in italian—meaning a flat area that is high in elevation, higher than the surrounding areas. Besides, a plateau is generally large in scale (kilometers).

In the italian Alps we use a lot the word “piano”, much more than “altopiano”. This is a flat area that is not higher than the surrounding area. It is an area on a mountain escarpment, so on one side of that spot the surrounding areas are higher, on the opposite side are lower. Regarding size, a “piano” is much smaller than an “altopiano” (a plateau), just tens or hundreds of meters. 

Usually a “piano” is covered by grass, but not necessarily. It might have tree coverage, or could be even used for agriculture. So natural=grassland would not correctly characterize it.

It is an important feature in the Alps, since these mountains have always been inhabited and exploited for grazing. Finding a small flat spot was nice, because animals and men could rest there, or it was possible to build a little house. This explains why almost every single flat spot here in the Alps have a name given many years ago.

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