VOTE FOR JEITA GROTTO

Lebanon may be known for its 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 July 21, 2009, as one of 28 finalists in a global competition to find the "New 7 Wonders of Nature," chosen out of 261 international landmarks initially chosen by the public. The "New 7 Wonders of Nature" will be revealed in 2011.

Jeita Grotto 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.

Often referred to as the "Pearl of Nature in Lebanon," Jeita Grotto was made a finalist as a "natural site that has neither been created by nor significantly altered by humans for aesthetic reasons," according to the New 7 Wonders Foundation. Finalists 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 underground river flows, Jeita Grotto spans 10 kilometers in length and boasts one of the biggest stalactites in the world.

It 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 Grotto 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 Grotto's subterranean chambers, dangerously sharp rocks and heavy torrents have prevented a complete discovery of its charms.