У западного побережья Шотландии, входящей в состав Великобритании, расположен необитаемый остров под названием Стаффа. Остров Стаффа – самый миниатюрный из состава Гебридских островов. Его площадь ограничивается 33 гектарами, а самая высокая точка над уровнем моря не превышает 42 м.Всё побережье Стаффа украшают величественные базальтовые колонны, образующие подобие грандиозного природного театра или собора. Остров приобрел популярность в далеком 1722 году после того, как на него удалось попасть популярному британскому исследователю Джозефу Бэнксу. Исследователь подробно и красочно описал этот удивительный дикий клочок земли и акцентировал свое внимание на поющей пещере, которую он сравнил с Лувром.
Протяжённость Фингаловой пещеры – 113 м , а ширина входа чуть больше 16 метров . Стены пещеры состоят из базальтовых колонн шестигранной формы высотой до 20 метров. Они были сформированы в потоке палеоценовой лавы, и похожи на прямые, а где-то изогнутые шестигранные столбы. Завораживающая Фингалова пещера, свод которой выгнут наподобие купола собора, интересна не только своими впечатляющими масштабами и оригинальностью формы, но ещё и уникальной природной мелодичностью. В силу специфики купола пещеры звуки ветра здесь задерживаются на доли секунд, рождая поистине впечатляющие по своему звучанию мелодии.Кроме того, огромный зал Фингаловой пещеры многократно повторяет отголоски шума прибоя, что создаётся иллюзия, будто весь этот природный собор создаёт уникальную музыку и буквально поёт. Любопытен ещё и тот факт, что «издаваемые» пещерой звуки слышны на значительном удалении от неё. Поэтому, даже ещё лишь приближаясь на катере к острову Стаффа, можно услышать уникальную «музыку природы».
Свое название Фингалова Пещера получила по имени героя древних кельтских легенд. Это Фингал (дословно значит «белый странник») или как его еще называли Финн мак Кумал, о котором в 18 веке рассказал шотландский поэт и любитель мистификаций Джеймсом Макферсоном. Фактически Джеймс собрал воедино множество мифов об этом герое и опубликовал книгу под названием «Сочинения Оссиана, сына Фингала, переведённые с гэльского языка Джеймсом Макферсоном».
Многие люди искусства под воздействием Фингаловой Пещеры ощущали прилив творческой энергии и открывали новые грани своей деятельности. Мендельсон написал увертюру «Фингалова Пещера». Вальтер Скотт признавался, что это место одно из самых удивительных в мире. Жюль Верн использовал описание пещеры в своих книгах «Путешествие к центру Земли» и «Таинственный остров». Художник Дж. М. У. Тернер написал картину «Staffa, Fingal's Cave» , в том же году, малоизвестное чудо стало туристическим объектом. Pink Floyd назвали одну из своих ранних неизданных песен именем пещеры.
Если смотреть изнутри пещеры, то на горизонте будет виден остров Айона, на котором захоронены короли древней Шотландии, включая знаменитого Макбета ( Мак Бетад мак Финдляйх).
Fingal's Cave - a source of inspiration.
Off the west coast of Scotland, which is part of Great Britain, there is an uninhabited island called Staffa. The island of Staffa is the smallest of the Hebrides. Its area is limited to 33 hectares, and the highest point above sea level does not exceed 42 m. The entire coast of Staffa is decorated with majestic basalt columns, forming a semblance of a grand natural theater or cathedral. The island gained popularity back in 1722 after the popular British explorer Joseph Banks managed to get there. The explorer described this amazing wild piece of land in detail and colorfully and focused his attention on the singing cave, which he compared to the Louvre.
The length of Fingal's Cave is 113 m, and the width of the entrance is just over 16 meters. The walls of the cave consist of basalt columns of a hexagonal shape up to 20 meters high. They were formed in the flow of Paleocene lava, and look like straight, and somewhere curved hexagonal columns. The fascinating Fingal's Cave, the arch of which is curved like a cathedral dome, is interesting not only for its impressive scale and originality of form, but also for its unique natural melody. Due to the specificity of the cave dome, the sounds of the wind here linger for fractions of a second, giving birth to melodies that are truly impressive in their sound. In addition, the huge hall of Fingal's Cave repeatedly repeats the echoes of the sound of the surf, which creates the illusion that this entire natural cathedral creates unique music and literally sings. Another curious fact is that the sounds "emitted" by the cave can be heard at a considerable distance from it. Therefore, even just approaching the island of Staffa by boat, you can hear the unique "music of nature".
Fingal's Cave got its name from the hero of ancient Celtic legends. This is Fingal (literally meaning "white wanderer") or as he was also called Finn mac Cumhal, who was described in the 18th century by the Scottish poet and hoaxer James Macpherson. In fact, James collected many myths about this hero and published a book called "The Works of Ossian, the son of Fingal, translated from the Gaelic by James Macpherson". Many artists under the influence of Fingal's Cave felt a surge of creative energy and discovered new facets of their activities. Mendelssohn wrote the overture "Fingal's Cave". Walter Scott admitted that this place is one of the most amazing in the world. Jules Verne used the description of the cave in his books "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "The Mysterious Island". The artist J. M. W. Turner painted "Staffa, Fingal's Cave" in the same year, a little-known miracle became a tourist attraction. Pink Floyd named one of their early unreleased songs after the cave.
If you look from inside the cave, you will see the island of Iona on the horizon, where the kings of ancient Scotland are buried, including the famous Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaich).
OMG, look at this cave house built into the side of a mountain in Oia, on the Greek island of Santorini. It has 2bds, 2ba, and can be expanded to a 3rd suite on the upper level. These homes date back to over 250 yrs. This one was updated in 1990. Investors rent them out as vac. homes, but there are permanent residents, as well. $985,752.
Can you imagine living here?
Look at how cute and cheerful it is.
A built-in rock niche with shelves.
I don't know why, but they only show a glimpse of the kitchen and entrance to the lower level.
Oh, that's so cute, the way they have the main bedroom blocked off.
The bed and this couch are built in. It looks like one can easily sleep on here, too.
Plus, there's a 2nd built-in sofa. According to some listings, the house has 2bds, 2ba, and others say it's just 1bd, 1ba.
This is a sitting room, in addition to the seating area when you enter.
Mosaic shower.
Look at the view from the front yard. Isn't that little gate cute?
This is stunning.
This is probably what the listing means when it says that you can put in a 3rd suite. There must be space up here.
Can you imagine even having this as a vac. home? I wouldn't mind living here, though.
Look at the rock the town is built on and in.
Beautiful blue roofs.
Here's the beach, and the listing says there's also access to a pool.
(check the tags for more and also the tag for other fics in the story!)
athena, scowling as she gets bullied into marrying the people she pined over for the last 1000 years, suddenly realising something: wait a minute
odysseus: what?
athena, frozen: wait a damn minute you know what this gives me rights to do
penelope, also realising: oh fuck yes
odysseus: I don't like the sound of whatever's happening here what are you two fucking talking about?
athena, grabbing the marriage wine and tossing it back, then kissing her new wife and husband and handing penelope a spear as she picks up a mace: we'll be back shortly, you can start celebrations without us.
penelope: do u have anything that can start a fire
athena, pulling out an old contract and scanning it before throwing it over her shoulder: yes. are you scared of heights or can we fly.
penelope: fucking bring it I've waited years for this moment
zeus: where are they going
hermes, picking up the contract: they're going to... Ogygia? Oh fucking shit they're going to fucking kill Calypso- hey, hello, WAIT-
Sand Island’s shoreline is pocked with sea caves carved by ice, wind, and the waves of Lake Superior. The lake has “higher water quality, lower watershed stress, and [lower] shoreline development stress than the other Great Lakes,” says Brenda Lafrancois, an ecologist for the National Park Service.
the zine’s officially out, so I can post my contribution for the @extraordinaryzine :D!
my piece is an interpretation of the caverns on Iron Island 🏝️ so I wanted to incorporate more of the water surrounding it by creating a sea cave to have light spill inside (akin to the modra špilja/blue grotto)
the focus of the zine was on the daily lives of trainers and their pokemon, so Riley uses a spot inside the caverns like this to meditate with his team, although any new Riolu he trains can’t resist wanting to jump into the water to play υ´˶ ・ﻌ・ ˶`υノ”
this piece alongside a ton of amazing artists can be found free to download digitally here! (and lastly some closeups bc I liked getting all the little deets down)