Baatara gorge waterfall
Waterfall in northern Lebanon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Baatara gorge sinkhole (Baatara gorge waterfall) is a waterfall in the Chatine, Lebanon[1] near Balaa.
| Baatara gorge sinkhole | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | Chatine, Lebanon |
| Coordinates | 34°10.406′N 35°52.222′E |
| Type | Plunge |
| Number of drops | 1 |
| Longest drop | 90–100 m (300–330 ft) |
The waterfall drops 255 metres (837 ft) into the Balaa Pothole, a cave of Jurassic limestone[2] located on the Lebanon Mountain Trail.[3] The cave is also known as the Cave of the Three Bridges.[4] Traveling from Laklouk to Tannourine one passes the village of Balaa, and the Three Bridges Chasm (in French Gouffre des Trois Ponts) is a five-minute journey into the valley below where one sees three natural bridges, rising one above the other and overhanging a chasm descending into Mount Lebanon. During the spring melt, a 90–100-metre (300–330 ft) cascade falls behind the three bridges and then down into the 240-metre (790 ft) chasm.[5]
Discovered to the western world in 1952 by French bio-speleologist Henri Coiffait,[6] the waterfall and accompanying sinkhole were fully mapped in the 1980s by the Spéléo club du Liban.[7] A 1988 fluorescent dye test demonstrated that the water emerged at the spring of Dalleh in Mgharet al-Ghaouaghir[8][9] (located near Balaa).[10]
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