Mini Israel
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Mini Israel (Hebrew: מיני ישראל) is a Miniature park located near Latrun, Israel in the Ayalon Valley. Opened in November 2002, the site contains miniature replicas of hundreds of buildings and landmarks in Israel. As of 2007, the tourist attraction consists of about 350 miniature models while continuing to expand all on a scale of 1:25.
The permanent exhibition shows the main sites and structures in Israel which are of importance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The sites are of historical, archeological, cultural, religious, and ethnic importance dipicting the sites and the ethnic groups associated with them, such as different Muslim cultural groups, Jewish, and Christians living in the country, but also Druze, Beduin and others.
The entire complex covers 6.5 hectometres with the models displayed over 3.5 hectometres. The park also includes a souvenir shop, a few restaurants and rest areas and a hall for lectures and meetings in which a film about the creation of the park is displayed.
History
The slogan since its inception has been "See it all - small". The designers, architects and model builder team consisted of over 100 people from all parts of Israeli society and religions, including many new immigrants from the former USSR.
The park was the brainchild of Israeli entrepreneur Eiran Gazit who conceived the idea after visiting the famous miniature town of Madurodam in the Netherlands. The park was created by Gazit and his partners, Yoni Shapira serving as creative and marketing director, Mike Madeson in charge of international projects and Koby Plashkesthe technical director. It was funded mainly by two large investing groups: Granite HaCarmel and Secom of the Shikun Ubinui Group. The park was built on land owned by Kibbutz Nashchon.
The models
The park consists of about 350 buildings and landmarks, 30,000 figures, 500 animals, plants and 15,000 real trees, 4,700 cars, 100 motorbikes, 14 trains, 3 helicopters, 32 aircraft, 175 ships and 230 trucks. All trees are real bonsai cultivated and planted by the Agronoy nursery . The park is loosely shaped like a star of David with each of the six triangles representing an area or city: Jerusalem; Tel Aviv; Haifa; Galil; Negev; Center.
Models were created in workshops spread throughout Israel using sophisticated computerized evaluations, based on research prepared by Mini Israel staff.
Most of the buildings were built in the scale of 1:25. Exceptions represent:
- The Moshav of Nahalal - 1:250
- The Orot Rabin power station - 1:50
- The Walls of Jerusalem and Acre were reduced to 1:50 leaving their height at 1:25
- The Menorah in the forecourt of the Knesset - 1:15
All items are either made of polyurethane or similar polymeric materials or small stones. They were all painted with waterproof paint, so that the items would be resistant to weather conditions. Many of the models include kinetic moving parts such as trains, planes, a soccer game, heavy equipment, boats etc.
See also
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