Jeita

This article is about the town. For the grotto, see Jeita Grotto. For the Japanese electronics association JEITA, see Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.

33°57′14″N 35°38′36″E

Jeita جعيتا Jaita, Jaaita
Municipality
Jeita Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°57′14″N 35°38′36″E
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Keserwan-Jbeil
District	Keserwan
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Near Jaeta (Jeita), Lebanon, 2014.

Jeita (Arabic: جعيتا Jʿītā; also spelled Jaaita or Jaita) is a town and municipality located in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The town is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Beirut.^[1] It has an average elevation of 380 meters above sea level and a total land area of 290 hectares.^[1] Jeita's inhabitants are Maronites.^[2]

It is well known for the Jeita Grotto which is a popular tourist attraction, as well as the Nahr al-Kalb, a river that runs from a spring near the grotto emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The name Jeita is derived from the Aramaic word Ge’itta, meaning "roar" or "noise".^[3]

History

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Ja'ita as a village located in "Aklim el-Kesrawan, Northeast of Beirut; the chief seat of the Maronites".^[4]