What is the pavement of the giants? One of the main natural attractions of Northern Ireland is a surreal object resembling a giant staircase of dark basalt columns that goes directly into the sea for 150 meters.
The mystery of nature
The bridge of the giants is located in County Antrim, near the town of Bushmills. The rocky coast, breaking into the Atlantic Ocean, consists entirely of 40 thousand columns with several faces.
A miraculous masterpiece was discovered at the end of the 17th century by the Bishop of Derria. The site, called Giants Causeway, immediately attracted the close attention of scientists. And even now, the real mystery of nature, covered in legends, does not give them rest. The exact geometric shape and vertical position of the tall columns, very closely pressed together, confused the researchers of the natural phenomenon.
Scientist Versions
There is a scientific version of the appearance of the UNESCO-protected Bridge of Giants, according to which a volcanic eruption occurred on this territory millions of years ago. The fiery lava flowing down the slopes with great speed and colliding with the sea surf formed the vast plateau of Antrim. With rapid cooling, the process of reducing the volume of the substance occurred, cracks arose that split the hardened surface into multifaceted figures that pierced the lava through and through.
However, not all scientists agree with this theory. Many are sure that the famous road is a petrified bamboo forest, and the retreating sea only laid bare it.
Ancient legend
The ancient Celts, who lived on the territory more than a thousand years ago, tried in every possible way to find an explanation for the appearance of the unusual Giants Bridge.
Locals love to talk about the exploits of the giants who inhabited this land for a long time. The hero of the Celtic myths Finn McCool dreamed of defeating the one-eyed Cyclops from Scotland. To get to him, he had to drive hundreds of high stone pillars into a seabed, forming a kind of bridge. A tired Irishman lay down to sleep, and his opponent, who noticed a stone road, decided to attack first. The terrible monster who saw the sleeping giant was frightened of its growth.
Passed by the wife of the hero, who noticed the fear of the cyclops. She added fuel to the fire, saying that this is only the little son of Makkul, not grown to the waist of his father. Frightened Gall escaped along the road, which he wanted to destroy, so that the giant did not catch him. But he was afraid to wake him, and all that the cyclops could do was destroy the second part of the trail that approached its coast. That is why the pillars disappear into the ocean.
So there was a road, the tops of the basalt columns of which resemble a springboard that goes into the sea.
What is famous for Bridge of Giants?
The story of the appearance of a mysterious corner of a small country, which appeared more than 60 million years ago, still worries the minds of not only scientists, but also ordinary people. The size of local attractions is such that tourists really think of supernatural powers. Exactly turned basalt columns up to 12 meters high fit snugly against each other, and it is impossible to stick even a thin blade between them. And researchers of anomalous phenomena put the Bridge of giants in Northern Ireland on a par with the Egyptian pyramids and moai of Easter Island.
The stone pillars look very beautiful from above: it seems as if nature itself laid the paving slabs on an area of 275 meters, located along the coastline and extending far into the Atlantic Ocean.
