The Giants Causeway or Clochán an Aifir, as it is known in Northern Ireland has been named after an ancient legend about a battle of Giants, but was actually created 60 million years ago as a result of the tectonic plates shifting which caused the boiling magma to spew up from the earth’s core. Once it comes into contact with the surface it starts to rapidly cool on the outside whilst the centre is still hot, and as the centre cools completely it causes cracks which gave rise to the near perfect basalt polygonal columns. This awe-inspiring natural carpet of enormous “stepping stones” span 6 kilometres with a total of 40 000 columns varying in sizes ranging from 38 to 51 centimetres in diameter and standing up to 25 meters tall.
For those of you that believe in legends the Giant’s Boot can still be seen on the beach, after the epic battle.
