Mysterious Northern Ireland contains many miracles. One of them is the amazing Causeway of the Giants. It seems as if an unknown sculptor worked for thousands of years, erecting a road of stone columns. This unique natural attraction was included in the list world heritage UNESCO, and it is impossible to argue with this decision.
In our article.
Tens of thousands of skillfully hewn basalt columns create a unique landscape. Most of them have six corners, but an attentive traveler can find those with four, five, seven or eight. All together they really resemble a giant road. It goes around the cliffs and goes into the sea, and the differences in the height of the columns from 6 to 12 meters give the feeling of a staircase carelessly hewn by giants.
When looking at the Giant's Causeway, it is impossible to believe that its origin can be explained by the most ordinary natural processes, so for romantics and myth lovers there is a legend about this place.
In time immemorial, these harsh lands were inhabited by giants. The gigantic warrior Finn Mac Kumalo had a difficult temperament, and strong rivals did not frighten him. On the contrary, they made us want to compare our strengths. The one-eyed giant who lived overseas was just such a rival. The distance did not stop Finn and he decided to build a bridge, not just a simple one, but a stone one. With his sword, the tireless giant carved out giant columns from basalt and drove them into the ground.
Further folklore differs in opinion. Some say that Finn got tired and fell asleep, and the one-eyed warrior himself came to him. Others believe that upon seeing a powerful rival, the main character was overcome by fear and ran away. But in the finale of both options, Finn's wife becomes the savior.
As is usual in legends, she defeated the one-eyed warrior not by force, but by cunning and ingenuity. The smart woman swaddled her husband like a child, and greeted her opponent with open arms and treats - flatbreads with frying pans baked in them. She herself sat down to lull her baby to sleep and fed him the same delicacy, only without the filling. Uninvited guest, suspecting nothing, saw a giant baby tirelessly chewing iron, asking for more, and realized that it was definitely not worth messing with the father of this child. The frightened opponent ran away headlong. Running away, he destroyed the bridge, and since then the stone columns have been going under water.
Origin
In fact, the origin of the Giant's Causeway has a scientific explanation. This area became famous only at the end of the 17th century, and tourists began to appear here in large numbers more than a hundred years later. In addition to the unique landscape, visitors also like this place because their movement here is completely unrestricted. Even though the Giant's Causeway is nature reserve, there are no closed areas here.
Curious tourists can discover similar formations in other parts of the world, but this is where their largest concentration is located. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Giant’s Causeway is of interest not only to amateurs, but also to scientists. For several centuries they tried to come to a common opinion, putting forward different hypotheses. Some believed that the pillars were crystals that had been growing under the waters of ancient oceans for thousands of years. Others believed that the columns were nothing more than petrified bamboo forest.
Most modern scientists have taken a different point of view. According to them, millions of years ago there was an eruption ancient volcano formed here a vast lava plain, the basis of which was basalt. Gradually hardening, it cracked, forming an amazing pattern. As the magma solidified, the cracks gradually deepened and subsequently formed regular hexagonal columns. This is how scientists explained the origin of the Giant's Causeway. But, who knows, maybe a frightened one-eyed giant is still sitting alone on an island in the middle of the cold sea...
Attractions
The columns of the Giant's Causeway form three platforms. The first of them is called the Great Trail and originates from the rocky mountains. This platform is a monumental staircase, the steps of which reach a height of six meters. Going down to the sea, the path becomes flatter and looks like a road for giants. The second site is the Middle and Small trails.
The columns from this group are located near the main path, but they no longer resemble a path, but separate mounds. By taking precautions, you can examine them by moving from one pillar to another. The third site is the most mysterious and least visited. This is the uninhabited island of Staffa, which is located 130 km from the coast. Its name translates as “Island of Pillars”. Between the columns the island hides its main attraction - Fingal's Cave, which is about 80 meters long.
The giants laid the beginning of their path along the cliffs. Later people appreciated their bizarre shape and gave them original titles. There are musical instruments here - the Harp and the Organ, and stone accessories forgotten by the giants - the Loom, Cannons and even the Giant's Coffin. The unknown giant also forgot his shoe here. This is exactly what one of the cobblestones looks like. Curious visitors calculated that the owner of these shoes was at least 16 meters tall.
Separate pillars of the Giant's Causeway not only rise up, but look from the sea like the chimneys of a stern northern castle. A curious incident in the history of the country is connected with this. The “invincible armada” of the Spaniards, having approached the shores, decided to shell the threatened territory and attacked. The only losses suffered were the basalt columns, because there was no castle on the shore. The Spaniards' ship crashed on the rocks, and the army suffered considerable losses in the cold waters. The sunken treasures were raised from the bottom and are still kept in one of the museums in Ireland.
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is a unique sight. The harsh northern nature fascinates with its steadfastness and dispassion. The gigantic road is imbued with the spirit of antiquity. Legends are made about it; tourists around the world never tire of admiring it. This place is definitely worth a visit.
The Giant's Causeway has several names, including the Giant's Causeway and the Giant's Causeway. The volcanic formations located in Northern Ireland are among the world's natural treasures, which is why a considerable number of tourists seek to look at the unusual cliffs.
Description of the Giant's Causeway
An amazing miracle of nature from above resembles a sloping road that descends from the cliffs and goes into Atlantic Ocean. Its length on the coast reaches 275 meters, and approximately another 150 meters stretches under water. The size of each column is about six meters, although there are also twelve-meter pillars. If you take a photo from above the cliff, you can see honeycombs tightly packed together. Most posts have a hexagonal cross-section, but there are also those with four, seven or nine corners. 
The pillars themselves are quite hard and dense. This is explained by their composition, which is dominated by magnesium and basaltic iron with a quartz content. It is because of this that they are not subject to decay under the influence of winds and waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Conventionally, the natural structure can be divided into three sections. The first is called the Great Trail. Here the columns have a cascading structure in the form of steps. Towards the bottom they level out into a road up to 30 meters wide. Next are the Middle and Small trails, reminiscent of protruding mounds. You can walk on their tops, as they are flat in shape. 
Another unusual area is the island of Staffa. It is located 130 km from the coast, but here you can also see columns similar to those that go under water. Another noteworthy place on the island for tourists is Fingal's Cave, the depth of which reaches 80 meters.
Hypotheses about the emergence of a miracle of nature
During the study of the Giant's Causeway, scientists put forward various hypotheses about where such columns came from. Among the popular versions are the following explanations:
- the pillars are crystals formed on seabed, once located in Northern Ireland;
- the columns are petrified bamboo forest;
- the surface was formed as a result of volcanic eruptions.
It is the third option that seems closest to the truth, since it is believed that the magma that has come to the surface, after a long period of cooling, begins to slowly crack, causing the layer to resemble a honeycomb, going far deep into the earth. Due to the basalt base, the magma did not spread over the ground, but lay down in an even layer, which later became like columns.
Despite the fact that this hypothesis seems to scientists the most reliable, it is not possible to test it for truth, since hundreds of years must pass before a similar effect can be repeated in practice.
The Legend of the Giant's Causeway
The story is retold among the Irish of the giant Finn Mac Cumal, who had to fight a terrible foe from Scotland. To connect the island with Great Britain, the resourceful giant began to build a bridge and became so tired that he lay down to rest. His wife, hearing that the enemy was approaching, wrapped her husband in swaddling clothes and began baking cakes. 
When the Scotsman asked if Finn was sleeping on the shore, his wife said that it was just their baby, and her husband would soon arrive for the decisive fight. The resourceful girl treated the guest to pancakes, but first baked cast-iron frying pans in them and left only one for Finn without an unusual additive. The Scotsman could not bite a single cake and was extremely surprised that the “baby” ate it without difficulty. 
Thinking how strong the father of this child must be, the Scot hastened to escape from the island, destroying the bridge that had been built behind him. The amazing legend is liked not only local residents, but also fuels interest in the Giant’s Causeway among tourists from different corners peace. They enjoy walking around the area and enjoying the scenery of Ireland.
Giants Causeway- Northern Ireland's most famous landmark.
I have long wanted to see it, and for me the Giant's Causeway became the most powerful impression of the whole.
Imagine a rocky coast, plunging towards the sea, which consists of individual faceted basalt columns, closely pressed against each other. The columns are predominantly hexagonal. Sometimes at the base of the column there is an almost regular hexagon, sometimes it is skewed - and not a hexagon, but an octagon or pentagon.
The columns were formed as a result of a series of volcanic movements, cooling and horizontal compression of lava, which included basalt.
The columns have different heights. Their clusters form figures, for example, in the form of an organ, a palisade, a pedestal, or a staircase. And the most remarkable section is a paved road that goes into the sea and disappears under water.
Actually, this section is called the Giant's Causeway, or the Giant's Causeway.
Giant's Causeway(Giants Causeway) and coast Causeway Coast were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986 UNESCO.
The Legend of the Origin of the Giant's Causeway
There is a local legend about the origin of this pavement. It tells the story of two giants who wanted to measure their strength.
One of them is the Irishman Finn McCool, the other is the Scotsman Goll. To meet his rival, Finn Mac Cool built a road across the Irish Sea using pillars driven into the seabed. The giant was so tired of laying the road that he fell fast asleep.
And at this time, Goll ran across the pavement across the sea to Ireland to fight with force against his opponent. Finn's cunning wife passed off her sleeping husband as their baby son, and Goll, afraid of meeting such a giant's father, ran away, destroying the road behind him. Only a small piece of pavement remained.
The Giant's Causeway - how to get there
The Giant's Causeway is located in the north of the island of Ireland, a hundred km from, 3 km from the town Bushmills.
How to get there:
By car– along the B147 Causeway road.
On public transport - from Belfast by train to Coleraine, then by bus 172.
There are full day excursions from Belfast and from Dublin visiting the Giant's Causeway. Such an excursion is possible.
Visit the Giant's Causeway
The trail is open from 9 a.m. and closes depending on the season:
- January, February, November, December – at 17
- March, April, May, June, September, October – at 6 pm
- July, August – at 19. Last entry – one hour before closing.
Entrance to the territory of the National Park is through Tourist centre. It houses a museum, toilet, cafe, gift shop and ticket office.
A ticket to the Giants Causeway National Park costs £10.50 for an adult (half price for a child).
Along with the ticket you will receive a route map and an audio guide.
The audio guide doesn't make much sense. In the scheme, to be honest, too. Everything is intuitive. When I was preparing for the trip, I read that there are several routes along the cliffs, which are divided according to difficulty level. In fact, the difficulty is approximately the same everywhere, and in a couple of hours you will complete all the routes marked on this map.
The logic is this: first everyone follows the lower path along the sea. There is also a bus that takes you directly to the Giant's Causeway. It is approximately 800 meters from the office. You should definitely go on foot (if you can), because the road is beautiful, and the bus goes fast - you won’t have time to take a photo or admire it..
After the Giant's Causeway, the road continues along the sea for some time, and then a serpentine begins, which leads to the upper path. Then those interested go along the rocks along the upper path: first to the east, then return to the office. There is also a section of trail behind the office that leads to the cape. From the cape you can look at the Giant's Causeway from a different perspective.
Walk through the National Park
In the morning we left Belfast and a couple of hours later we were approaching National Park Giant's Causeway.
The weather was cloudy. I read that it often rains here, and I usually came across photos from the Giant's Causeway with rain.
The tourist center is inscribed into the rock and is surrounded along the perimeter by dark columns, imitating the basalt columns on the Giant's Causeway.
The first section is along the sea
After passing through the Tourist Center, we go down along the rocks along the road.
Everything still looks ordinary, but strange, seemingly ordered stones are already appearing.
Giant's Causeway
And here she is - Giant's Causeway. The tops of the columns form a kind of paving stones. In most cases, the columns are of different levels, but in some places they align and merge into a single surface.
The coast consists of numerous faceted columns. The booklet says that there are over 40,000 basalt columns here.
Leg - for column scale
This is a paved road
From the side, the bridge looks like this:
The path goes higher and higher
Steeply Staircase of the Shepherds climb to the edge of the cliff
and we find ourselves on a green meadow with calves grazing.
View of the Pavement going into the sea
The path along which we climbed is clearly visible. The path in the middle of the slope goes into the distance and leads to the so-called Organ - a rocky area with a row of tall columns. But in our time, the passage to the Organ was closed, we only saw it from above.
Upper trail
then among the heather fields,
then approaches the edge of the cliff.
From here the Giant's Causeway looks like a sharp promontory. Behind her, a green “dinosaur head” peeks out of the water.
The views are breathtaking, and you want to go further and further, following the bends, descents and ascents coastline. I experienced similar inspiration in Normandy, on. By the way, the weather has cleared up.
"Organ Pipes"
Heather and bluebells among the grass
Unfortunately, at some point we had to turn back. Returning to the Giant's Causeway, we looked at it from above. The number of people increased significantly.
Bus to the Giant's Causeway. Top right is the Causeway Hotel. In the distance (to the left) a large sand beach— the rocks have disappeared.
In conclusion, we took a walk to this plateau
There are picnic benches there. So, if you have prepared sandwiches, you can have a snack here.
This ended our walk. There was no time left for the museum, cafe and souvenirs. I wanted to make the most of my time walking along the rocks. And at 14 o'clock we had a ferry to Scotland.
So, if fate takes you to Northern Ireland, try to get to this unique coastline. And maybe even an overnight stay.
Attractions near the Giant's Causeway
There is a Causeway Hotel near the Giant's Causeway, next to the information center.
If you come overnight, you can walk the entire Causeway Coast Way(33 miles) – most beautiful route along the coast. Also nearby (15 km east of the Giant's Causeway) there is another attraction - a rope bridge Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, stretched between two rocks over the strait. The bridge serves as a good addition to the Giant's Causeway: as a rule, these two attractions are viewed together.
You can also visit the ruins Dunluce castle built on a rock. It is located 8 km west of the Giant's Causeway. The castle served as the prototype for the castles of Cair Paravel in The Chronicles of Narnia and Pyke in Game of Thrones.
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Millions of years of volcanic activity in the north of Ireland have created this miracle - basalt formations in tens of thousands of columns emerge from the ground on the Causeway coast, surprising tourists with their unusual, but at the same time, almost ideal hexagon shape (there are also 4-5-7-8- coal).
No less curious is the legend that describes the history of the creation of this miracle.
Once upon a time there lived two giants in the neighborhood - one good from Ireland, the other a bad hooligan from Scotland.
The good one was called Finn Mac Cumal, and the bad one was Goll Mac Morn.
And so Finn decided to rid his homeland of the one-eyed monster Gollom and built a bridge of many columns that connected Scotland and Ireland...
And somehow it happened that Gollom was the first to come across this bridge to fight Finn.
And Finn was smaller and, frightened by the sight of Gollom, asked his wife to come up with something and hide him. She swaddled her husband like a baby, laid him on a bench, and when Gollom asked if Finn was at home, she replied that only the newborn child was at home, and the father was not there.
The giant looked at the “baby” and felt unwell - if the child is so huge, then what kind of dad is he? "I'm missing something..."
But he still went into the house to wait for Finn.
Meanwhile, the wife invited Gollom to treat himself to flat cakes, in the dough of which iron pans were mixed, and the giant broke off his teeth.
But when his wife handed Finn an empty flatbread, he ate it without any problems. The monster was surprised that the child was able to bite through such a hard cake, and thought that his father must be even stronger.
Frightened, Gollom decided never to meet Finn and fled across the bridge back to Scotland, destroying it. So, according to the Irish legend, the Giant's Causeway with columns of different heights was created due to the fact that a giant ran along it. 
An adult ticket costs £8.50 and a sign warns that it may be checked at the gate, but not required.
The price includes visits to the cafe, museum, parking and audio guide.
It was already close to closing time (we arrived at 15:00, and the road closes at 17:00), and we decided to save money - why do we need a museum?
And they didn’t go through the official gate - they’re on the right, but in a detour behind a dozen tourists who also went without a ticket. 
The café and store building is built into the hill and designed in the style of the trail itself. 
I don’t have time for the museum, it’s sunset soon, but I stop to take pictures of the beautiful light. 
From the hill where the route begins, the trail itself is not visible. The walk is a little over a kilometer, but for £1 you can take a bus that runs every 10 minutes. 
We went there on foot - going down the mountain is more fun. 
Here is the Giant's Causeway with different levels of basalt columns. 
There are a lot of people for winter. 
The path descends to the sea starting from the height of the columns into a three-story house. 
Tourists are looked after by lifeguards in bright vests - there is a slight storm at sea and it is not advisable to go beyond a certain point. 
It is very convenient to climb - the columns act as steps. You just have to watch your step so as not to slip. 
From a distance, the basalt pillars appear almost perfectly smooth. 
View towards the mainland - the beginning of the Path and its top. 
By the way, basalt is not as slippery as ordinary stones, it’s quite possible to walk... 
In 1986, the Giant's Causeway was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and a year later it became national reserve Northern Ireland. 
We visited at low tide and were able to see more rocks. 
And here I remember the mosaic stone paths in Asian gardens. 
Pink foam. 
Suddenly a witness. 
My boots don't look their best after climbing on the side of the road. 
They brought a tripod, but you couldn’t take pictures with it during the day, and they didn’t let you get closer to the waves.
The coast of Northern Ireland (Great Britain) 3 km from the city of Bushmills is covered with 40 thousand basalt (less often andesite) columns. This place is called the "Giant's Causeway" (Giant's Causeway). The road, and the Causeway Coast on which it lies, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Most columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven and eight corners. The tallest column is about 12 meters high.
According to a scientific hypothesis, these bizarre stone pillars were formed 50-60 million years ago, when, during a volcanic eruption, hot and very liquid basaltic lava burst to the surface right in the bed of the then existing river. The outer layers of lava quickly cooled under the influence of water and stone columns formed, as if driven into the ground (this effect was achieved due to the mass of lava pressing down the river bottom underneath).
Path to the Giant's Path:
In one of the Celtic myths of the 3rd century AD. It is said that the warrior hero Finn Mac Cumal, who lived in Ireland, was constantly abused by his neighbor, a one-eyed giant named Goll, who lived across the strait from him (in Scotland). One day Finn Mac Kumal decided to teach the giant a lesson, and since he could not swim across the bay, he began building a bridge. For seven days and nights he dragged huge stone rods into the sea and finally the bridge was ready. Tired after backbreaking work, Finn decided to get a good night's sleep before the upcoming battle. At this time, the Scottish giant, seeing the bridge, ran across it to Ireland and began knocking on the warrior’s door. The warrior's wife got scared and came up with a trick: she swaddled him like a baby. In addition, she treated Goll to flat cakes, inside which she baked flat iron pans, and when the giant began to break his teeth on them, she gave the second flat cake, a simple one, to the “baby” Finn, who calmly ate it. Imagining what a giant the father of this rather large “baby” would be, Goll fled in horror, destroying a bridge along the way. Therefore, only the beginning of the bridge, going into the sea, has survived to this day:
