25 July 2009

BEIRUT: Lebanon may be known for its political volatility, silky wines and ancient Cedars, but it now looks set to become just as famous for something else: a massive river tucked away in a series of subterranean chambers. Jeita Grotto, 20 kilometers north of Beirut, was selected on Tuesday as one of 28 finalists in a global competition to find the "New 7 Wonders of Nature," cho-sen out of 261 international landmarks initially chosen by the pub-lic.

Jeita is the only one of its category caves, rock formations and valleys that made it to the finals, and now faces competition from the likes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the Dead Sea and Germany's Black Forest.

"We first heard about the competition in 2007, when Lebanon didn't put forward any nominees," said Dr. Nabil Haddad, managing director of MAPAS, the German firm in charge of the grotto's operations. After seeing tourism to Jordan surge following the selection of Petra as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World, Haddad said the Lebanese government was compelled to nominate Jeita in the next competition.

Often referred to as the "Pearl of Nature in Lebanon," Jeita was made a finalist as a "na-tural site that has neither been created by nor significantly altered by humans for aesthe-tic reasons," according to the New 7 Wonders Foundation. Fi-nalists are chosen according to their importance to human life, geographical balance and diversity.

Comprising two limestone caves, upper galleries and a lower cavern through which an un-derground river flows, Jeita Grot-to spans 10 kilometers in length and boasts one of the biggest stalactites in the world.

Announcing the 28 finalists on Tuesday, founder and president of New 7 Wonders, Ber-nard Weber, extended his congratulations to Jeita. "This is an extraordinary achievement and the eyes of the planet will be upon Jeita Grotto and Lebanon for the next two years," he said from Switzerland.

"We look forward to an exciting and record-breaking final race, with the whole world coming together to choose the Official New7Wonders of Nature, seven locations that will become part of global memory forever."

Haddad said Lebanon's chances to win would depend on whether enough voters could be mobilized. "It should be a national duty" for the Lebanese to vote, he said. A win would "be for the whole country."

Jeita was discovered in 1836, supposedly by the Reverend William Thomson, an American missionary. After venturing 50 meters into the cave, Thomson "fired a shot from his gun and the resulting echoes convinced him that he had found a cavern of major importance," according to Jeita Grotto brochure.

Some 37 years later, H.G. Huxley and W.J. Maxwell, engineers at the Beirut Water Company, joined by their friend Daniel Bliss, president of what was later to become the American University of Beirut, set out to further explore the caverns.

During one expedition, the three sealed a piece of paper showing their names and the date of their expedition in a bottle and left it on top of a stalagmite. According to Jeita organizers, "the action of the lime-impregnated water has since covered the bottle with a thin white film, permanently fixing it to the stone."

Although many speleologists and explorers have since passed through Jeita's subterranean chambers, dangerously sharp rocks and heavy torrents have prevented a complete discovery of its charms.

Like much of Lebanon, Jeita has seen its fair share of misfortune. Fighting during the country's 1975-90 Civil War caused substantial damage to the site's roads, administrative building and underground par-king lot, forcing the grotto's closure. Following lengthy restoration, the landmark finally reopened in 1995.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Bahraini tourist Mohammad al-Sadek as he emerged from a boat trip in Jeita's lower cavern, adding that he would "definitely" vote to support the grotto.

The final seven winners will be announced in 2011. "Can you imagine a small country like Lebanon winning?" Haddad mused. "And in the future students in Alaska or Japan learning about Jeita as one of the seven new wonders of nature in the world?"

You can cast your vote for Jeita Grotto by visiting http://www.new7wonders.com or calling +41 77 312 4041 and entering code 7714.

Copyright The Daily Star 2009.