There are a lot of beautiful natural sightseeings in the World. Many of them have a volcanic origin. Approximately forty thousand interconnected basalt pillars are located on the north-east of the Ireland. This place was named “Giant’s Causeway”.
There are several places with similar formations in the World. We have visited two of them (located in Ireland and Armenia).
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N55.240833, W6.511667
It is worth of a notice that Giant’s Causeway is a part of UNESCO World Heritage list.
The place is extremely beautiful… Every small part of Ireland is different and worth visiting. Northern Ireland will meet you with a grey sky, an infinite cold ocean and monumental rocks…
But this place is not just dark and cold. As it usually happens in Ireland, everything is drowning in a green grass!
Don’t forget your umbrella! It will be a long walk!
Take a look on animals:
Basalt pillars (it is considered that these pillars were formed of lava 50-60 millions years ago):
There is a Giant’s Boot lying next to the Giant’s path:
And here is the path itself:
And beautiful paved stairs 🙂
According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner. In another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he. Fionn’s wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the ‘baby’, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn could not follow.
Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this.
It can be useful to get audio guide and listen for interesting stories about the place. Many interesting things can be easily left unnoticed if you go without a guide. You can get it for a small fee in tourist information center together with tickets.
The article about Armenia will be published soon.
Flights to Dublin:
Hotel prices in Dublin:
