Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site

Official name

Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast | UNESCO

Country

United Kingdom | Map

Continent

Europe

Location

County Antrim, Northern Ireland
55.2408° Lat, -6.5116° Lon | Map

Code

369

Time Zone

Europe/London (GMT, +0000)

Current Time

Category

Natural

Description

Inscribed 1986. The Giant's Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs along the sea coast on the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. The dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. Geological studies of these formations over the last 300 years have greatly contributed to the development of the earth sciences, and show that this striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity during the Tertiary, some 50–60 million years ago.