Europe Explored » legends https://europeexplored.com Travel through the most beautiful places in Europe Sun, 08 Sep 2013 13:36:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.6 Fingal’s Cave – natural wonder in Scotland | United Kingdom https://europeexplored.com/2011/05/31/fingals-cave-natural-wonder-in-scotland-united-kingdom/ https://europeexplored.com/2011/05/31/fingals-cave-natural-wonder-in-scotland-united-kingdom/#comments Tue, 31 May 2011 15:47:51 +0000 Claire https://europeexplored.com/?p=4277 Fingal’s Cave is a fabulous, partially underwater cave created of basalt. It is located on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides islands, only 30 km from the western coast of Scotland. Fingal’s cave with its basalt columns can certainly belong to the most mysterious places of the world. The entry to the cave […]

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Fingal’s Cave is a fabulous, partially underwater cave created of basalt. It is located on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides islands, only 30 km from the western coast of Scotland. Fingal’s cave with its basalt columns can certainly belong to the most mysterious places of the world. The entry to the cave is high like a five-floor house. Cave is around 70 meters deep, 69 m long and 7-13 m wide.

Fingal’s Cave was discovered by an English naturalist Sir Joseph Banks in 1772, during his expedition to Iceland. However the cave was known much earlier and is surrounded by many legends.

It is available either by ferry from the nearby island of Mull, or from the Scottish mainland.


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Torre de Hércules – the oldest active lighthouse in the world | Spain https://europeexplored.com/2010/12/03/torre-de-hercules-the-oldest-active-lighthouse-in-the-world-spain/ https://europeexplored.com/2010/12/03/torre-de-hercules-the-oldest-active-lighthouse-in-the-world-spain/#comments Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:29:55 +0000 Claire https://europeexplored.com/?p=2153 Torre de Hercules is an ancient Roman tower in Spain, which since its inception has served as a beacon. It is so far the oldest active lighthouse in the world. It is located in Galicia, A Coruña, about 2.5 km from the city center. Torre de Hercules was already built by the Romans in the […]

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Torre de Hercules is an ancient Roman tower in Spain, which since its inception has served as a beacon. It is so far the oldest active lighthouse in the world. It is located in Galicia, A Coruña, about 2.5 km from the city center.

Torre de Hercules was already built by the Romans in the 2nd century. As already mentioned, it is still working, which makes it a unique monument. Torre de Hercules is 68 meters high; there are 234 stairs leading to the top. The lighting ensures a group of 4 lights that flash every 20 seconds and is visible up to a distance of 39 km. Torre de Hercules and this entire site is otherwise surrounded by a series of legends.

Around the tower Torre de Hercules there is the Statue Park, an open-air museum. There are more than 15 sculptures by major artists of the 20th Century, such as Francisco Leiro or Pablo Serrano. For local residents the most important sculpture is Breogan, which is the mythological father of the population of Galicia.

Thanks to its historical significance, Torre de Hercules is registered since 2009 in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

Not far from tower you can also visit A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, the Roman walls of Lugo city, Aquarium Finisterrae.


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Ritten Earth Pillars – natural pyramids in Italy https://europeexplored.com/2010/06/03/ritten-earth-pillars-in-italy/ https://europeexplored.com/2010/06/03/ritten-earth-pillars-in-italy/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:46:47 +0000 Claire https://europeexplored.com/?p=256 Just outside of the sleepy little village of Ritten which is located in the South Tyrol region of Italy, you will find some of the most amazing, naturally occurring pillars that can be dated back to more than 10,000 years ago. There is somewhere between 100 and 150 of these naturally occurring pyramids which are […]

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Just outside of the sleepy little village of Ritten which is located in the South Tyrol region of Italy, you will find some of the most amazing, naturally occurring pillars that can be dated back to more than 10,000 years ago.

There is somewhere between 100 and 150 of these naturally occurring pyramids which are built through thousands of years of glacial erosion. Atop of them one can find mammoth sized rocks which are the reason that the pillars first started to form. As the years went on, more of the land was worn away below the rocks resulting in some of the pillars towering more than 130 feet above the ground.

Ritten Earth Pillars, Italy
Ritten Earth Pillars, Italy by Internet Consulting

Eventually, as the pillar is work down below the point where it can continue to support the weight of the rock, it simply collapses. While these naturally occurring pillars of earth can be caused by a number of weathering processes, the ones just outside of Ritten, Italy were as a result of the glacier that had once covered the valley Ritten sits in today. 10,000 years ago, as this glacier melts with the ending of the last ice age, the pillars began forming and their formation continued long after the last remnants of the glacier melted away.

Today, the Ritten Earth Pillars are a well known and popular attraction throughout Europe. There are also a number of similar sites that can be found throughout the Alps. There is something mysterious about these pillars of clay. Some of the pillars have boulders on top of them that weigh several tons which only adds the enchantment of visiting this natural wonder. Over the centuries Ritten earth pillars have attracted the attention of countless tourists from all over the world. There are many legends that surround the creation of these and many other pillar sites throughout Europe.

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