Houses of the Holy Cover — Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

The cover of Led Zeppelin's fifth album "Houses of the Holy" (1973) was photographed at the Giant's Causeway on the north Antrim coast of Northern Ireland — the extraordinary geological formation of some 40,000 interlocking basalt columns created by ancient volcanic activity. Photographer Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis shot children climbing the hexagonal columns in twilight conditions, with the resulting image composited to create a surreal, otherworldly scene that suited the album's mystical and eclectic character. The image was manipulated in darkroom to produce the distinctive gold-purple colouration.

The Giant's Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most visited natural attractions in the British Isles, drawing around one million visitors annually to its extraordinary landscape of geometric stone columns descending into the North Atlantic. The association with the Zeppelin album has made it a pilgrimage site for rock fans as well as natural history enthusiasts — a dual audience that the National Trust, which manages the site, accommodates with characteristic thoroughness.

"Houses of the Holy" was a significant moment in Zeppelin's evolution — the album on which they most openly experimented with reggae ("D'yer Mak'er"), funk ("The Crunge"), and acoustic folk ("The Rain Song") while maintaining the hard rock backbone that defined them. The title track was notably absent from the album, appearing instead on "Physical Graffiti" two years later. The Causeway itself — ancient, monumental, and strangely regular — provides one of rock photography's most memorable backdrops.