Mini Israel facts for kids
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Native name
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מיני ישראל
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| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Latrun, |
Mini Israel (Hebrew: מיני ישראל) is a cool miniature park located near Latrun in Jerusalem, Israel. It's in the Ayalon Valley. This park opened in November 2002. It has tiny copies of hundreds of famous buildings and places in Israel. It's a fun tourist attraction with about 350 miniature models of important buildings. The models are built at a scale of 1:25. This means tall skyscrapers look like they are adult height, and historic churches are about the height of a child!
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Discover Mini Israel: A Tiny Tour
Mini Israel is a special place where you can see all the main sites and structures of Israel in one spot. These places are important to different religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The park shows sites that are important for history, old buildings (archeology), culture, and religion. It also shows the different groups of people who live in Israel. These include various Muslim groups, Jews, and Christians. You can also see models related to the Druze and Bedouin people. Signs in the park are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Most visitors to Mini Israel are from Israel.
Park Size and Features
The whole park covers a huge area of 60,000 square meters (about 14.8 acres). The miniature models are spread out over 35,000 square meters (about 8.6 acres). Besides the models, the park has a gift shop where you can buy souvenirs. There are also a few restaurants and places to rest. You can even find a hall for talks and meetings. In this hall, a film about how the park was built is shown. To help you explore, you can get an audio guide or even ride in motorized buggies.
How Mini Israel Was Built
The park's slogan from the very beginning has been "See it all - small." More than 100 people worked together to design and build the park. This team included designers, architects, and model builders. They came from all parts of Israeli society and different religions. Many new immigrants from the former USSR also helped.
The Idea Behind the Park
The idea for Mini Israel came from an Israeli businessman named Eiran Gazit. He got the idea after visiting a famous miniature town called Madurodam in the Netherlands in 1986. Plans to build the park started in 1994. The park was created by Gazit and his partners. Yoni Shapira was in charge of creative and marketing ideas. Mike Madeson handled international projects, and Koby Plashkes was the technical director.
Funding and Opening
The park cost about $20 million USD to build. Most of the money came from two big investment groups: Granite HaCarmel and Secom of the Shikun Ubinui Group. About 15% of the money came from the Israel Tourism Office. The park was built on land owned by Kibbutz Nachshon. In its first nine months after opening, 350,000 people visited Mini Israel. A Google Street View of Mini Israel was finished in November 2011 and became available online on April 19, 2012.
The Amazing Miniature Models
The park is home to about 350 miniature buildings and famous places. It also has 30,000 tiny figures of people and 500 animals. There are even 15,000 real trees and plants! You can spot 4,700 cars, 100 motorbikes, 14 trains, 3 helicopters, 32 aircraft, 175 ships, and 230 trucks. All the trees are real bonsai trees. They were grown and planted by a special nursery.
Park Layout and Model Creation
The park is shaped a bit like a Star of David. Each of its six points represents a different area or city in Israel. These areas are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Galil, Negev, and the Center. The models were made in workshops all over Israel. They used special computer programs and research done by the Mini Israel team.
Model Scale and Materials
Most of the buildings are built at a scale of 1:25. This means they are 25 times smaller than the real thing. However, some models are different. For example, Nahalal is 1:250. The Orot Rabin power station is 1:50. The walls of Jerusalem and Acre were made smaller to 1:50, but their height stayed at 1:25. The Knesset Menorah is 1:15.
The models are made from strong materials like polyurethane or similar plastics. They also use small stones. They are painted with waterproof paint so they can handle different weather conditions. Many models used to have moving parts, like trains, planes, and boats. There was even a tiny soccer game! However, over the years, some of these moving parts have stopped working. Many of the models are also showing some wear and tear.
Gallery
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Bahai garden, German Colony, Haifa
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Basilica of the Annunciation and Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent, Nazareth
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Nabi Shu'ayb, Hittin
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El-Jazzar Mosque, Acre
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Azrieli Center, Tel Aviv
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Dan Eilat hotel, Eilat
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View of the Mini Israel
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Church of the Beatitudes, Sea of Galilee
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See also
In Spanish: Mini Israel para niños
- Kasol, India resort often termed "mini-Israel"
