Fingal’s Cave is an 85 meter long cave on the uninhabited Scottish island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides, United Kingdom.
The small island is surrounded by basalt cliffs resembling columns. The ancient Vikings called it “The Island of Columns”The length of the amazing cave is about 113 meters, and the width of its entrance is about 16.5 meters.
The cave received its current name from Mendelssohn’s overture “Fingal’s Cave”, inspired by the melodic consonances that he heard while visiting the cave in 1829. Fingal is the legendary hero of the gray-haired Celtic antiquity, about whom James MacPherson told the world in one from the poems of the Ossian cycle. According to legend, Fingal built a mound between Scotland and Ireland, the so-called Giant’s Road.
The arched entrance to the Fingal’s Cave is too narrow for boats. In the 19th century, Fingal’s Cave was a tourist attraction, up to 300 tourists a day landed on Staffa to visit the cave. Famous visitors were Queen Victoria, Walter Scott, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, John Keats, Theodor Fontane and William Wordsworth.
Tourists can make their way inside along a narrow path just above the water’s edge. Looking out from the cave, one can discern the outline of the sacred island of Iona – the burial place of ancient Scottish kings, including Macbeth.
Along with the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, it is one of the most famous basalt formations in the United Kingdom.
Access : Coordinates: 56.433889, -6.336111 / Fingal’s cave , is located on the island of Staffa / It is impossible to get here by boat, the only way is a narrow path along the coast just above the water’s edge.
Highlights :
- local legend says that these columns are the work of the hands of giants, because it is hard to believe that such ideal forms could have been created by nature itself.
- This cave is present in the Minecraft game in the form of canyons. / the cave inspired artists: the artist Joseph Turner painted its landscape, and the composer Felix Mendelssohn created his famous Hebrides or Fingal’s Cave overture.
- Gusts of wind penetrate into the bowels of her huge hall, linger in it and create magical melodies that can be heard at a distance of several kilometers from her.
- The ancient Scots called the cave “An Uamh Bhin” – “melodic cave”, and later renamed it in honor of the hero of Celtic folklore – the giant Finn McCumal (aka Fingal), who, according to legend, built a dam connecting Scotland and Ireland.
Activities : Staffa – Fingals Cave & Treshnish Wildlife Tour / Staffa & Treshnish Isles Wildlife Tour / Wildlife Adventures with Sealife Surveys / Wildlife Tour.
Go next : Glengorm Castle, also known as Sorn Castle, is a 19th century country house on the Isle of Mull in Scotland / The sacred island of Iona – the burial place of ancient Scottish kings, including Macbeth.
