Full-Day Private Trip to Jeita Grotto, Baalbek and Chateau Ksara

Jeita Grotto

The Jeita Grotto, a system of two separate, but interconnected, karstic limestone caves which have formed over millions of years, is the longest cave complex in the Middle East. It is located 300 metres above sea level and has a height difference of 305 metres. The Jeita upper cave has an overall length of 2,130 metres and contains a great concentration of a variety of crystallized formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, mushrooms, ponds, curtains and draperies. The lower gallery which has an overall length of 6,200 metres is located 60 metres below the upper gallery. It is traversed by a smooth underwater river and a lake.

Baalbek, is home to the Baalbek temple complex which includes two of the largest and grandest Roman temple ruins: the Temple of Bacchus and the Temple of Jupiter. It was inscribed in 1984 as an UNESCO World Heritage site. This Phoenician city, where a triad of deities was worshipped, was known as Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period. It retained its religious function during Roman times, when the sanctuary of the Heliopolitan Jupiter attracted thousands of pilgrims. Baalbek, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee.

Temples of Baalbek

The complex of temples at Baalbek is located at the foot of the south-west slope of Anti-Lebanon, bordering the fertile plain of the Bekaa at an altitude of 1150 m. The city of Baalbek reached its apogee during Roman times. Its colossal constructions built over a period of more than two centuries, make it one of the most famous sanctuaries of the Roman world and a model of Imperial Roman architecture. Pilgrims thronged to the sanctuary to venerate the three deities, known under the name of the Romanized Triad of Heliopolis, an essentially Phoenician cult (Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus).