<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; background: yellow; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="center"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;" lang="EN-US">Major Attractions  </span></strong></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana', 'sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><a href="index.php?option=com_jetour&amp;view=otherpages&amp;otpage_id=4"><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;">Beirut</span></a><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;">  <span style="color: #000000;">|</span> <span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong>Mount Lebanon</strong></span></span> <span style="color: #000000;">|</span> </span><a href="index.php?option=com_jetour&amp;view=otherpages&amp;otpage_id=11"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;">Bekaa</span></span></a><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="color: #000000;">|</span> </span><a href="index.php?option=com_jetour&amp;view=otherpages&amp;otpage_id=12"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;">North</span></span></a><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="color: #000000;">|</span> </span><a href="index.php?option=com_jetour&amp;view=otherpages&amp;otpage_id=13"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0364ab; font-size: xx-small;">South</span></span></a><br /><br /></span><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">Be<a name="Beiteddine"></a>iteddine</span></strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />BEITEDDINE means "house of faith'. Beiteddine is a palace built at the beginning of the 19th century, by Emir Bechir Chehab II, on a rocky spur dominating a steep, precipitous valley. A perfect example of classic Lebanese architecture of the time, it has decorated ceilings, colorful marble mosaic floors, luxurious Turkish Baths and harem suites, in a setting of beautifully groomed gardens, a guest house in which the French Poet "Lamartine" once dwelt, water jets and colonnades. The palace remained the emir’s residence until his forced exile in 1840, when the Ottomans used it as the government residence. It was declared a historic monument in 1934, and then began a restoration process. Since 1943, it has been the summer home of the president. A folkloric museum occupies one wing and in the palace's renovated stables is an exquisite display of mosaics from a ruined Byzantine church and other structures of the same period.<!--?xml:namespace prefix = u1 ?--></span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />MIR AMINE PALACE Just minutes from Beiteddine is a restored palace of the same period that is now one of the most beautiful hotels in Lebanon. Make a quick detour to see the hotel, not forgetting to check out the bottom of the swimming pool which is tiled to look like a Persian carpet. The view from the hotel is breathtaking.</span><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />Barou<a name="Barouk_Cedars"></a>k Cedars:</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">The reserve makes up 5 percent of the entire territory of the country and 70 percent of Lebanon's green area, making it the largest nature reserve in the Middle East. The reserve, formed in 1994, is one of three protected areas in Lebanon to benefit from the United Nations' Protected Areas Project.</span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />Oak, pine and juniper are some of the 16 types of trees that also grow in the reserves. Squirrels, wild boars, porcupines, wolves and gazelles can be found in the reserve.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">Jeita G<a name="Jeita_Grotto"></a>rotto:</span></strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />Few caverns in the world approach the magnificent and astonishing wealth of the extent of those of Jeita, as raindrops of more than hundreds thousands years have worked a magic wonder in the limestone of the Mount Lebanon range near the Dog River (Nahr El-Kalb).</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">In these caves and galleries, known to man since Paleolithic times, the action of water has created cathedral-like vaults beneath the wooded hills of Mount Lebanon forming one of the worlds most beautiful and astonishing caverns found 20 km north of Beirut</span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />Discovered in 1863 by an American hunter, the caves originally opened in 1958 and became internationally known for the spectacular and sometimes macabre contortions of stalactites and stalagmites, stone curtains and columns. With their fantastic rock formations, the caves have attracted some 10,000 visitors a week since the site was reopened to the public in July 1995.</span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />The caverns is on two levels: the lower caverns is visited by boat over a subterranean lake 623 meters long, while a dry upper gallery can be seen on foot.</span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />In summer you can visit both the upper and lower galleries while enjoying the refreshingly cool temperature inside the caves. The lower section is sometimes closed in winter when the water level is high, but the extensive upper galleries are open all the time.</span><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br /></span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US">Bybl<a name="Byblos"></a>os:</span></strong><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />Byblos is said to be the oldest inhabited city in the world, the source of the first Phoenician letters that gave us our alphabet. Byblos was the major seaport of the East Mediterranean during the 3rd millenium BC.</span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-US"><br /><br />The name originated from 'biblion', that is book. The word 'bible' is derived from the Greek 'ta b blia', which means 'the books'. Byblos is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. According to Phoenician tradition, Byblos was founded by the god El who surrounded his city with a wall. The massive Early Bronze Age city walls (2800 B.C.) on the site reflect this early religious belief. Thus Byblos was considered, even by the ancient Phoenicians, to be a city of great antiquity.</span></span></p>
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