Baatara gorge waterfall
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| Baatara gorge sinkhole | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of Baatara gorge sinkhole | |
| Location | Chatine, Lebanon |
| Coordinates | 34°10.406′N 35°52.222′E / 34.173433°N 35.870367°E |
| Type | Plunge |
| Number of drops | 1 |
| Longest drop | 90–100 m (300–330 ft) |
The Baatara gorge sinkhole (Baatara gorge waterfall) is a waterfall in the Batroun district of Lebanon near the village of Chatine in the town of Tannourine.[1][2]
The waterfall drops 255 metres (837 ft) into the Balaa Pothole, a cave of Jurassic limestone[3] located on the Lebanon Mountain Trail.[4] The cave is also known as the Cave of the Three Bridges.[5] 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.[6]
Discovered to the western world in 1952 by French bio-speleologist Henri Coiffait,[7] the waterfall and accompanying sinkhole were fully mapped in the 1980s by the Spéléo club du Liban.[8] A 1988 fluorescent dye test demonstrated that the water emerged at the spring of Dalleh in Mgharet al-Ghaouaghir[9][10] (located near Balaa).[11]