Jeita Grotto makes final 14 in New Seven Wonders contest

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Jeita Grotto was on Tuesday selected as one of 14 finalists in a global competition to choose the new seven wonders of the natural world, organizers said. The grotto is one of two finalists from the Middle East after the Dead Sea, shared by Jordan, Palestine and Israel, as was selected by online and telephone voters. 

The other finalists include the Maldives Islands, Halong Bay in Vietnam, Galapagos Islands, the Amazon River, the Great Barrier Reef, Indonesia’s Komodo National park, the Grand Canyon, Venezuela’s Angel Falls, the Puerto Princesa underground river in the Philippines, Italy’s Vesuvius volcano, Canada’s Bay of Fundy, and Iguazu Falls, which is shared by Argentina and Brazil. The public initially had 261 natural landmarks to choose from. 

Often referred to by locals as the “Pearl of Nature in Lebanon,” Jeita was chosen as a finalist for being a “natural site that has neither been created by nor significantly altered by humans for aesthetic reasons,” according to the New 7 Wonders Foundation website. All 14 finalists have been chosen according to their importance to human life, geographical balance and diversity. 

Jeita Grotto was discovered in 1836, supposedly by the Reverend William Thomson, an American missionary. Comprising two limestone caves, upper galleries and a lower cavern through which an underground river passes, the chambers span around 10,000 meters in length and boast one of the biggest stalactites in the world, hanging at 8.2 meters. Jeita is the only landmark of its category – caves, rock formations and valleys – that made it through to the finalists. 

You can vote for Jeita Grotto by visiting www.new7wonders.com or calling +41 77 312 4041 and entering code 7714. The final seven winners will be announced in 2011.