The Konkordiaplatz or Concordia Place (French: Place de la Concorde), is a flat area of

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

and

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

lying just to the south of the

Jungfrau The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the J ...

in the

Bernese Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=BerneseAlps.jpg , photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau , country= Switzerland , subdivision1_type=Cantons , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_on= , l ...

in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...

. It is the junction of four large

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s coming down from the ''Aletschfirn'', the ''Jungfraufirn'', the ''Ewigschneefäld'' and the ''Grüneggfirn''. The main

Aletsch Glacier The Aletsch Glacier (german: Aletschgletscher, ) or Great Aletsch Glacier () is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about (2014), has about a volume of (2011), and covers about (2011) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Swiss ca ...

originates from Konkordiaplatz. The ''Konkordiaplatz Charter'' was signed by the municipalities located in the

Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area (officially Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch) is located in south-western Switzerland between the cantons of Berne and Valais. It is a mountainous region in the easternmost side of the Bernese Alps, containing the nor ...

UNESCO World Heritage site, vowing to retain the aesthetic beauty of the region.

Naming

'' Concordia'' is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for harmony, literally "with (one) heart". It was the name of the Roman goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. British mountaineer

John Frederick Hardy John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

dubbed the location at the convergence of the several glaciers ''Place de la Concorde of Nature''. The name ''Concordia'' was then given to other places where two or more glaciers meet, or large glaciated areas, such as Concordia in the

Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...

, and

Concordia Station Concordia Research Station, which opened in 2005, is a French–Italian research facility that was built above sea level at a location called Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica. It is located inland from the French research station a ...

in Antarctica.

Geography

Konkordiaplatz is located at an altitude between 2,700 and 2,800 metres, covering an area of approximately 2 km². The depth of snow and ice is more than 900 metres.Glacier d'Aletsch
pronatura.ch (French) It is surrounded by the

Dreieckhorn The Dreieckhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Konkordiaplatz in the canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss language ...

(south), the

Fiescher Gabelhorn The Fiescher Gabelhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Konkordiaplatz in the canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss l ...

(east), the

Grünhorn The Grünhorn (or ''Gross Grünhorn'') (4,044 m) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps range of the Swiss Alps. It is located on the ridge between the two largest glaciers of the Alps: the Aletsch Glacier to the west and the Fiescher Glacier to t ...

(north-east) and the Kranzberg (subpeak of the

) and

Trugberg The Trugberg is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, located south of the Mönch in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is located above the Konkordiaplatz where the névé of the Jungfraufirn on the west side and the Ewigschneefeld on the east s ...

(north). The area is uninhabited but the

Konkordia Hut The Konkordia Hut (German: ''Konkordiahütte'') is a mountain hut of the Swiss Alpine Club, located north of Fieschertal in the canton of Valais. The hut lies above Konkordiaplatz, the point of convergence of several glaciers in the great Aletsch ...

lies above the glacier, on the western slope of

Gross Wannenhorn The Grosses Wannenhorn is a 3906-metre mountain in the Bernese Alps, in the Swiss canton of Valais near the village of Fiesch. It is part of the Walliser Fiescherhörner. The mountain separates the Aletsch Glacier to the west from the Fiescher Gl ...

References

Glaciers of the Alps Glaciers of Valais Bernese Alps de:Aletschgletscher#Ursprung am Konkordiaplatz {{Valais-glacier-stub