Jeita ( 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 km north of Beirut. It has an average elevation of 380 meters above sea level and a total land area of 290 hectares. Jeita's inhabitants are Maronites. 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".

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".