There Fingal’s Cave And one of the most famous and fascinating sea caves in the world, located on the island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland; the cave owes its name to the epic poem by James Macpherson, which narrates the deeds of the Celtic hero Fingal, identified with the mythical Fionn mac Cumhaill of the Irish tradition, among other things the Gaelic name of the cave is Uamh-Binnwhat does it mean “cave of melody”, in reference to the suggestive sounds produced by the waves crashing on the basalt walls.
The cave is made up of hexagonal basalt columnswhich you are originated about 60 million years agoduring an intense volcanic activity that affected the Atlantic area between Scotland and Ireland, with the lava coming out of cracks in the ground which rapidly cooled in contact with water and air, solidifying into hexagonal prisms that extended into the depths .
This phenomenon is known as columnar disjunction and occurs when a rock mass undergoes uniform thermal contraction, with basaltic columns often having six sides, because this is the most stable and symmetrical shape that a hexagonal cell can take.
Fingal’s Cave has a length of approximately 85 metresone average width of 14 meters and a maximum height of 23 meterswhile the entrance to the cave is a arch 20 meters high, which opens onto the sea. The cave is flooded by the sea and it is not possible to enter it with boats, but only on foot along a row of fractured columns that form a sort of path just above the high tide level, while from inside the cave you can admire the view of the island of Iona, considered sacred by Christians.
What makes Fingal’s Cave unique
As we have previously said, the cave has a spectacular natural acoustics, due to the arched shape of the ceiling and the reflection of the sound waves on the basaltic walls. The noise of the waves crashing on the rock creates a harmonious and variable melody depending on the weather conditions and the motion of the sea, and this peculiarity has inspired numerous artistsincluding the painter William Turnerthe poet John Keatsthe novelist Jules Verne and the composers Felix Mendelssohn, Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms.
Fingal’s cave was discovered by the naturalist Joseph Banks in 1772during a scientific expedition to the British Isles, and since then the cave has become a very popular tourist destination, also visited by illustrious people such as Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson, Queen Victoria and Robert Louis Stevensonwhile today the cave is part of the National Trust for Scotland National Nature Reserve and can be reached with boat excursions between April and September.
Fingal’s Cave is a unique place in the world, where nature has created a geological and musical wonder, furthermore the cave also represents a symbol of Scottish culture and history, linked to ancient Celtic legends and the romantic literary tradition, and visiting the cave is an unforgettable experiencewhich allows you to come into contact with the beauty and mystery of nature.
The island of Staffa, where Fingal’s Cave is located, is an uninhabited island of approximately 33 hectares, located approximately 10 km from the western coast of the Isle of Mull, and the name Staffa derives from the Old Norse “stafi-ey” , which means “island of columns”. The island is made entirely of columnar basalt, the same material that forms Fingal’s Cave and the Giant’s Causeway in Irelandin addition the island has an irregular shape, with numerous inlets and cliffs, and has a series of sea caves, the most famous of which is Fingal’s Cave.
The island of Staffa has been inhabited sporadically by Celtic and Viking populations, but has never had a stable human presence, and this was donated in 1986 to the National Trust for Scotland by John Elliottan American banker who purchased it in 1984. The island is today a nature reserve, which can only be visited with special permission or with guided excursions in the period we previously mentioned.
Staffa Island is home to rich wildlife, including seabirds such as puffins, kittiwakes, shags, fulmars and white-tailed eagles, and seals can also be spotted on the island’s coasts greys, dolphins and whales. The flora of the island, however, is scarce and limited to a few species of herbaceous plants and mosses, which grow in the cracks of the basaltic rocks.
The island of Staffa is a place of great geological, naturalistic and historical-cultural interest, offering a unique spectacle in the world, with its basalt columns emerging from the sea and its caves that resonate with the waves, and obviously Fingal’s cave it’s part of this wonder, and visiting the island of Staffa is a way to discover a part of Scotland’s history and nature.
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