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Jeita Grotto Beyond Imagining
Fashioned by millions of years of erosion,
the Jeita Grotto is a spectacle that defies description.
Its stone sculptures, both elegant and tormented, are seen to their
best advantage thanks to the ingenious lighting system that reveals
their mysterious depths. Discovered in 1836, between 1874 and 1940
expeditions by English, American and French explorers penetrated
the Jeita Grotto a depth of 1.750 meters.
Since
1946, Lebanese speleologists continued investigating this great
underground system, which is now known to be at least 9 kilometers in
length.
Jeita is composed of a dry
upper gallery and a lower gallery with an underground lake that
is seen by boat.
A visit to these caves
is an emotional experience, for their variety lends them an air of almost
supernatural mystery. Stalagmites and stalactites meet one another in
a fantastic décor where mirages of the rocks are reflected in the
clear water of the subterranean basin.
The caves are very well
managed and are easily accessible to children and older people. A small
train carries visitors between the levels of the two Gallerys and there
is a restaurant, snack bar and projection room at the site.
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