Very few tourists go to Lebanon, so it was hardly surprising that I was one of only a handful of visitors to Jeita Grotto recently.  The grotto (Jeita means “roaring water” in Aramaic) is on the outskirts of Beirut and comprises two separate but interconnected limestone caves. Access to the upper chamber is via a short cable car ride after which a specially constructed pedestrian walkway takes you to the cave. The lower chamber can only be explored by boat (and is sometimes inaccessible when the water levels rise).

I had read nothing about the grotto before my visit, so I was unprepared for its beauty and grandeur. Nature and time have crafted a unique monument, a vast limestone artwork, a living sculpture of fantastical shapes – all illuminated to show it at its finest. No pictures are allowed (cell phones and cameras have to be deposited at the entrance); a sensible policy that somehow enhances the natural silence of the place and deepens a visitor’s sense of wonder. (Other attractions ought to adopt this approach).

Jeita is a hidden, subterranean jewel, a place made all the more remote by Lebanon’s troubled recent history.  Don’t miss it if you find yourself in that part of the world.