| TO SEE IN LEBANON - Jeita - |
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Altitude :
Approximately 300 m.
Distance
from Beirut : 25 km.
The 6200-meter long cavern was discovered back 1836. Delirious nature in the depths
of the earth. Venomous effervescence of stone. Enormous orchids of pinkish limestone.
Mineral mushrooms in fantastic shapes. A journey in Lebanon is worth while for
Grottoes of Jeita alone.
Of course, there are plenty of grottoes with stalactites and stalagmites in the
world, but it would appear that none of them even approach the astounding wealth
or the extent of those of Jeita. |
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Over a distance of 650 meters, at two levels, the
lower one in a boat and the upper one on foot, following perfectly made cement
gangways, the tourist picks his winding way through darkly forbidding caverns.
Sometimes he passes through vast halls the size of a cathedral and sometimes through
narrow corridors.
The subterranean river The lower grotto is full of the noise of water, through
which you pass in a boat managed by a mariner skilled at sliding through the maze
of rocks. Here reigns a half darkness that is
suddenly penetrated either by a wide area illuminated like a church on feast days
or by discreet lights picking out some opulent flowers.
From the lower grotto, where you arrive by car, you can take the Téléférique
to the entrance to the upper grotto for an Alice's through wonderland. The upper
galleries The most striking, the most spellbinding, where there is only occasional
drop of cold water that is the result of niggardly drippings which have gone on
for thousands of years. The richness of the limestone deposits and the infinite
variety of the crystals encouraged the visitors to come again to this site. |
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