Giants' Road, Carrickfergus Castle, Craigmore Viaduct and other beautiful places in Northern Ireland. Road of the legendary giants Coast road of the giants uk

About 40 thousand huge stone columns are so closely adjacent to each other that it seems that some giant, the hero of Irish myths and legends, installed them here. The diameter of these pillars is from 30 to 50 centimeters, they have even tops and several faces (a quarter has five, the rest has four, seven and even nine corners). The Path of the Giants (or, as it is also called, the Road of the Giants) is located in Northern Ireland, not far from the small town of Bushmills. It encircles the cliffs that are located on the coast of the Causeway Coast, and then gradually goes under water towards Scotland.

The scale of this amazing place is amazing. If you look at the Road of the Giants from above, then it really is extremely similar to a stone-paved road that stretches along the coast for 275 meters and goes into the Atlantic for another one and a half hundred meters.

The average height of the pillars is about six meters, although it is not uncommon to see columns twelve high. If you look at them from above, they are somewhat reminiscent of a honeycomb, since they organize hexagons among themselves, so tightly located in relation to each other that it is quite difficult to insert even a thin knife between them.

Absolutely all the pillars are dark in color and incredibly hard - scientists are a natural phenomenon explained by the fact that they consist mainly of basalt rich in magnesium and iron, which at the same time has a small amount of quartz. Thanks to this composition, the columns are able to successfully withstand the destructive effects of the winds and rough waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

The columns of the Giants' Causeway in Ireland form three groups of sites:

1. Big trail. The columns of this group are the largest and begin near the rocky mountains. At first they look like a cluster of huge stone steps, some of which reach up to six meters in height. Closer to the water, the steps gradually level off until they begin to form a stone-covered road, which is 20 to 30 meters wide.
2. Middle and Small trails. The pillars of these groups are located near the Great Path and, in shape, are more likely not like a road, but like barrows. Since each such column has a flat top, it is possible to carefully (especially near the water, because there they are extremely wet and slippery) to move from one column to another.
3. Staffa Island. At 130 km from the coast there is a small uninhabited island of Staffa (in translation - "island of pillars"), on which there is, as it were, a continuation of these columns. Between these pillars is the main attraction of the island - a huge Fingal cave, which is about 80 meters long.

cliffs

The columns themselves on the Causeway Coast are located around the cliffs, which people later gave rather original names. For example, two of them were named after the Harp (the columns from this cliff descend to the coast in a curved line) and the Organ (the straight and high pillars that are located near it are very reminiscent of this musical instrument).

There are cliffs with such interesting names as the Giant's Loom, the Giant's Coffin, the Giant's Cannons, the Giant's Eyes. Here you can also look at the Giant's Shoe - a two-meter cobblestone that resembles these shoes (it was even calculated that the giant who wore such a product must be at least 16 meters tall).

Chimneys of Giant's Path

There is one more interesting place on the Giant's Road - Chimneys, which several centuries ago frightened the already defeated "Invincible Armada".

It happened for a simple reason. Some pillars of the Giant's Road in Ireland not only rise on the coast, but also look like the chimneys of a huge castle from the sea. The Spaniards confused him with him, and fired cannons at “enemy territory” - that is, an absolutely deserted territory.

This story ended badly for the Spaniards: their ship crashed against the rocks, and many people died. The treasures found from the ship, after they were raised from the bottom of the sea, can now be seen in the Ulster Museum, which is located in Belfast.

Legend

There is nothing surprising in the fact that the Giant's Road has its own legends and myths that explain its appearance and formation.

The ancient Irish believed that the Giant's Road was built by the Irish giant Finn McCool in order to get to his sworn enemy, the Scotsman, who lived in the Hebrides, and fight him in order to decide who was stronger.

Further versions are slightly different from each other. According to one of them, seeing that his opponent is bigger and more powerful than him, Finn ran away. And when he saw that the Scot was chasing him, he persuaded his wife to swaddle him like a child and leave him to sleep on the shore. According to another version, while the Irishman was building the road, he was so tired that he fell asleep on the coast, and his wife, seeing that the rival was approaching, swaddled him and passed him off as a child.

In any case, seeing a huge "baby", the Scottish giant decided that it was better not to mess with his father and gave up, and so that the Irishman would not catch up with him, he destroyed the path.

The study

Interestingly, the Road of the Giants became widely known only at the end of the 17th century, when the Bishop of Derry began to heavily advertise this amazing place. And at the beginning of the 19th century, tourists began to appear en masse here.

Despite the fact that this area is declared by the Department of the Environment of Northern Ireland national reserve, there are absolutely no areas closed to the public, and tourists can walk wherever they want and where they can go. This fact is quite liked by tourists in this country.

The Road of the Giants is unique in that, despite the fact that something similar exists in other parts of the world, it is here that the largest concentration of such pillars is located. There is nothing surprising in the fact that for many centuries scientists have debated how exactly the Path arose.

Some of them assured that the giant pillars are actually huge crystals that arose a long time ago at the bottom of the ancient sea. Others said that the pillars are actually a petrified bamboo forest.

In our time, most scientists agreed that the largest lava plain in Europe once existed here. It was formed thanks to a huge layer of limestone, which is located under the territory of Northern Ireland. In ancient times, molten lava flowed out through its faults during volcanic eruptions, which covered the earth with a layer of 180 meters, after which it began to cool and harden. And it didn’t become a shapeless mass because it was based on basalt.

After some time, during cooling, the lava began to slowly decrease in volume, and thanks to the basalt, hexagonal cracks formed on its surface. When the inner layers of magma began to cool, these cracks began to deepen and formed hexagonal columns.

This theory was confirmed by a group of scientists from Toronto, who, after experiments, were able to prove that the slower the magma cools, the larger the columns are. Thus, the secret of the appearance of such an amazing natural phenomenon as the Giants' Trail in Ireland was revealed ... Or not?

The path of the giants - that's what it's called unusual place on the Atlantic Ocean in Northern Ireland. There are 40 thousand huge basalt columns tightly pressed against each other. Their surface seems to form a giant path leading from the ocean to a large volcano.

It is thanks to the eruption of this volcano several tens of millions of years ago, according to scientists, that an unusual natural structure appeared. The unusual shape of the columns is explained by the chemical composition of the lava, which contracted during solidification. Hexagonal stone pillars are the strangest structure spawned by solidified lava. For a long time, scientists puzzled over why the rock acquired the appearance of polygonal pillars. At present, the hypothesis is considered proven that this type of them is associated with an extremely slow cooling of the molten substance, and its gradual compression. Similar to this process, scientists call the drying of wet mud or clay, which also cracks and forms a bizarre pattern.

Most columns have six, seven or eight faces, and only one has three. Their average height is about 6 meters. The pillars are so tightly pressed against each other that it is difficult to even stick a thin knife between them. The total area of ​​the unusual object, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland, is 4.5 thousand square meters (300 by 500).

However, the name "Path of the Giants" tells us that the history of its appearance is also described in local legends. According to them, the road in ancient times, when the Earth was inhabited by huge people, was built by the Irish giant Finn McKumal from his house on the coast to the fortress of his enemy, located in the Hebrides. When he came to him, he found that the opponent was much larger and, therefore, stronger than him. Finn had to flee. Returning home, he asked his wife to swaddle him like a baby and lay him on the shore. Seeing such a "giant child", his enemy thought that it was better not to meet the father of such a huge baby, and returned home, destroying the stone road across the ocean along the way.

Whatever the origin of the Giants' Trail, it has long been considered one of the most picturesque in the world. It inspired more than one writer and artist to create romantic works. In 1986, the Giant's Trail was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and a year later it became a national nature reserve in Northern Ireland.

Once again, nature is showing us one of its phenomenal tricks. On the coast of the northern part of Northern Ireland (forgive the tautology, but that's the way it is) is the Giant's Causeway. This unique phenomenon of nature looks like unusual pillars, the section of which is very similar to a honeycomb.

The pillars (or columns) are so tightly pressed against each other that even a knife cannot be stuck between them. Approximately the same fit large stones in the walls ancient city Sacsayhuaman, with the only difference being that people did it there, and nature here.

Road of the Giants on the map

• Geographic coordinates 55.240684, -6.511417
• The distance from the capital of Northern Ireland, the city of Belfast, is approximately 80 km.
• Distance to the nearest airport Derry about 50 km

It should be taken into account that Northern Ireland it is an administrative part of the UK, not a separate state.

The Giant's Road is located 3 kilometers north of the town of Bushmills.

This attraction has about 40,000 basalt columns interconnected. Most of the pillars are hexagonal, but there are also four, five, seven and octagonal specimens. Their height reaches 12 meters. The diameter of the pillars is from 30 to 50 cm.

Considering this unusual natural structure, it is hard to believe that it appeared by chance. According to the official version of scientists, such extraordinary columns arose after a volcanic eruption in antiquity. Active volcanic phenomena took place here 50-60 million years ago. Molten basalt flows formed huge lava fields. With rapid cooling, the volume of the substance was reduced, and horizontal compression contributed to the appearance of such geometrically regular structures.

There is another hypothesis according to which the Road of the Giants was formed as a result of convection of a viscous substance under conditions of cooling of the upper layers.

Local residents, of course, associate the appearance of this structure with an ancient legend.
It says that the hero of the Celtic myths, warrior, sage and seer Finn McKumal decided to measure his strength with a huge one-eyed monster named Goll, who lived in Scotland. But by some absurd accident or random absurdity, the heroic hero… was afraid to get his feet wet. Finn had to drive a whole lot of columns into the bottom of the sea - a kind of bridge to the neighboring island turned out. He was very tired and decided to sleep before the battle. While our hero was peacefully dreaming, Goll, without waiting for his opponent, himself came to visit him along the already built bridge. He was met by Uma, Finn's wife. Judging by the name, the lady was not stupid. She cheated a little: pointing to her sleeping husband, she said that he was her child. As you understand, this comrade did not at all resemble a child in size. Uma sat the giant at the table and began to treat him with cakes, in which she had previously baked iron pans. Other cakes (already without pans inside) she set aside for her husband. When Goll began to break his teeth, eating his treat, the awakened Finn calmly ate his cakes "on both cheeks." Realizing that if the baby is like that !!!, then his dad will be completely invincible, Goll runs away in a panic and destroys the bridge along the way, cutting off the path for persecution.

Whether the Road of the Giants appeared as it is said in myth or as scientists suggest is no longer so important. The main thing is that now we have one more unsolved and therefore very attractive natural attraction.

The Road of the Giants runs for more than 270 meters along the coast and about 150 meters along the bottom of the sea. All columns are very hard and have a dark color. This is due to the high content of magnesium and iron in their composition. Such a mixture of substances is practically not subject to the destructive action of sea waves and wind.

Near the Giant's Road there are cliffs with original names. Harp Rock - its columns are curved and descend to the shore. The cliff of the Organ, whose pillars are straight and very similar to this huge musical instrument.
There are also cliffs Giant's Loom, Coffin and Giant's Eyes. Here you can still see the Giant's Shoe. This is a huge cobblestone in the form of shoes and 2 meters high.

• in 1986, UNESCO declared the Giant's Causeway and the Causeway Coast, where it is located, a World Heritage Site, and only a year later, the Department of Environmental Protection awarded this place the status of a National Wildlife Refuge
• despite the fact that the Road of the Giants has been here for thousands, and possibly millions of years, it was widely known only in the 17th century from the stories of the Bishop of Derry. And only at the beginning of the 19th century the first tourists came here.
• access for tourists here is nowhere and is not limited in any way
• in Scotland, on the island of Staffa, there is a unique one, the walls of which (like the coast of the island itself) consist of the same hexagonal basalt columns. Perhaps this is also part of the Road of the Giants

Road of the Giants photo

The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is a unique natural phenomenon: interconnected basalt hexagonal columns create amazing landscapes that resemble a natural pavement. The path is the result of the activity of an ancient volcano; ledges were formed when a lava flow cooled. trails: the road was built by the hero of the Celtic myths Finn McKumal.

The pavement of giants really could serve as a road: columns of different heights (from 6 to 12 meters) seem like a ladder, and cracks are the result of a sloppy layout of a nature trail.

In 1986, the Bridge of the Giants was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

To visit the Path of the Giants, you should choose comfortable clothes and shoes, best of all - with rubber soles.

It is better to plan a trip to the Bridge of Giants for the period from late spring to autumn. There are no tours of the Giant's Path during winter. Be careful: the weather in the north of Ireland is quite changeable. In strong winds and rain, approaching a cliff can be dangerous.

The Tourist Office, where you can get detailed information about Causeway of the Giants and buy souvenirs, is located at 44 Causeway Road. When buying a ticket, tourists receive an audio guide in Russian (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Japanese and Mandarin are also available).

How to get there

The bridge of the giants is located in the north-east of Northern Ireland, 100 km from Belfast. Bus service connects Giant's Trail and Belfast: tour buses run (mainly in summer time), can also be reached by bus 252, which runs along the picturesque coast of Antrim.

From late spring to early autumn, you can get to the Bridge of the Giants by tourist buses from Bushmills, as well as from another attraction in Northern Ireland -. In summer, minibuses also run from the Tourist Office.

From Belfast and Londonderry you can also take the Translink trains (www.translink.co.uk). The nearest railway stations to the Bridge of the Giants are Portrush and Coleraine, from where buses run to the coast.

Steam Railway connects Bushmills and Giant's Trail; the station is located 200 meters from the main entrance to the natural park.

Travel time from Belfast by car is about an hour and a half. Follow the M2 to the junction with the A26. Turning right, follow until the turn onto the M2. After passing the town of Ballymena, continue on the A26 to the town of Ballymoney. Turning right, follow Ballybogy Road to the junction with Priestland Road. Turn right again and continue to Causeway Road.

Location

The Causeway of the Giants is located in County Antrim at .

The coast of Northern Ireland (Great Britain), 3 km from the city of Bushmills, is covered with 40 thousand basalt (rarely andesite) columns. This place is called "Giant's Road" (Giant's Path). The road, as well as the Causeway Coast on which it lies, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven or 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 basalt lava broke through to the surface right in the bed of the then existing river. The outer layers of lava quickly cooled down under the influence of water and formed stone columns, as if driven into the ground (this effect was achieved due to the mass of lava that pressed through the river bottom under it).

Path to the Giant's Trail:

In one of the Celtic myths of the III century AD. it is said that the warrior hero Finn McCumal, who lived in Ireland, was constantly insulted by his neighbor, a one-eyed giant named Goll, who lived across the strait from him (in Scotland). One day, Finn McKumal decided to teach the giant a lesson, and since he could not swim across the bay, he set about building a bridge. For seven days and nights he dragged huge stone rods into the sea, and finally the bridge was ready. Tired after overwork, 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 to knock on the door to the warrior. The warrior's wife was frightened and came up with a trick: she swaddled him like a baby. In addition, she treated Goll with cakes, inside of which she baked flat iron pans, and when the giant began to break his teeth about them, she gave the second cake, a simple one, to the “baby” Finn, who calmly ate it. Having imagined what a giant the father of this rather big “baby” would be, Goll fled in horror, destroying the bridge along the way. Therefore, only the beginning of the bridge, extending into the sea, has survived to this day: