The holy river, Nahr Qadisha, runs through the valley for 35 km from its source in a cave (grotto) a little way below the Forest of the Cedars of God.[1] The sides of the valley are steep cliffs that contain many caves, often at more than 1,000 m and all difficult of access. The most scenic section of the valley stretches for approximately 20 km between Bsharri (Arabic: بشري‎), the hometown of Kahlil Gibran, and Tourza (Arabic: طورزا‎).