Mini Israel

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The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as depicted in the mini-Israel park in the scale of 1:25

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 structures in Israel which are of importance to the three major world religions - about one-third of the exhibition consists of replicas of such buildings.^{[citation needed]}

The entire complex covers 4.5 hectometres. The park also includes a souvenir shop, a few restaurants and rest areas.

1 History
2 The models
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

The Shrine of the book, an Israeli museaum, depicted in the scale of 1:25

The Israeli Supreme Court building, depicted in the scale of 1:25

The slogan since its inception has been "See it all - small". The designers and architects team consisted of over 100 people from all parts of the Israeli society and religions, including immigrants.

The park was funded mainly by two large investors: Carmel Agrexco and the Shikun Ubinui Group. The location where the park was built is part of an Israeli kibbutz called Nashchon which financially supported the project team.

[edit] The models

The park consists of 350 buildings, 30,000 figures, 500 animals, plants and 15,000 trees, 4,700 cars, 100 motorbikes, 14 trains, 3 helicopters, 32 aircraft, 175 ships and 230 trucks. All trees are real bonsai.

Models were created in workshops spread throughout Israel using computer evaluations, which engineers had calculated for them.

Most of the buildings were built in the scale of 1:25. Exceptions represent:

The Moses monument - 1:250
The Orot Rabin power station - 1:50
The walls of Jerusalem and Acre - 1:50
The Menorah in the forecourt of the Knesset - 1:15

All items are either made of polyester or similar polymeric materials or small stones. They were all painted with waterproof paint, so that the items would be resistent to weather conditions.