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The Giant's Causeway (known as Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFomhórach in Irish and tha Giant's Causey in Ulster-Scots) is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption.
It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills.
It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a national nature reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.
The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places.
Much of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is today owned and managed by the National Trust and it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland.
Around 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleogene Period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillar-like structures, which are also fractured horizontally into "biscuits". In many cases the horizontal fracture has resulted in a bottom face that is convex while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called "ball and socket" joints. The size of the columns is primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools.
The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleogene.
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.
We almost missed these and were about to give up trying to find it until I saw a sign to Reynishverfi beach that was mentioned in my guidebook. A narrow and winding road leads to the beach and when we arrived we practically had the beach to ourselves. I'm so glad we found this place. It's absolutely amazing and totally worth the trouble.
Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, Iceland
The rocky sea stacks sitting off the shoreline, known as Reynisdrangar.
According to local folklore, these large basalt columns were once trolls trying to pull ships from the ocean to shore. However, these trolls were dim and went out too late in the night; dawn broke on the horizon, turning the trolls into solid stone.
Another legend tells of a husband whose wife was kidnapped and killed by two trolls. The man followed the trolls down to Reynisfjara where he froze them, ensuring that they would never kill again.
A 1976 sail in a small boat from Ulva to Staffa and on to Iona.
The Isle of Ulva, looking west from the island of Mull in 1976.
Ulva is in the group of islands off the west coast of Scotland known as The Inner Hebrides
Ulva was the birthplace of Lachlan Macquarie, the "Father of Australia"
Canon Ftb
The basalt columns step up to the coastline ridges from in the ocean water. It looks so unnatural, but it's incredible to walk on these stones that just happen to be here, just so neatly arranged.
Captured moments taken during a four day road trip through the southern coast of Iceland.
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Giant's Causeway was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.
The basalt columns of the Basilica Terrace, which demarcated the 5th/6th century Byzantine church that stood at this corner of the ancient city of Gadara, in Umm Qais, northern Jordan. Gadara was one of the prominent cities of the Decapolis, a group of ten Greco-Roman cities in the eastern Mediterranean, which flourished from the 3rd century BCE through the Roman and Byzantine periods. The church itself was destroyed by an earthquake in the 8th century.
We spent a bit over a week exploring southern France. From Lyon, to the Alps, then through Provence before wrapping up in the Ardeche.
These photos are from that trip.
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Waves crash on Reynisfjara, a black sands beach on the coast of southern Iceland. The foot of a mountain whose cliff face is comprised of basalt columns sits in the foreground.