Mini Israel, Latrun Monastery, The Old City of Jaffa

Overview

Mini Israel is a miniature park – a special kind of museum under the open sky, which presents a unique collection of small copies and models of architectural and technical structures, as well as natural objects. The park was opened in November 2002, its exposition included about 350 miniature models, most of which were executed at a scale of 1:25. The park covers an area of ​​60 thousand square meters and more than half of its area is occupied by mock-ups. The exposition includes more than 350 models of buildings and monuments, 500 animals, 15000 living trees in the bonsai style (the art of growing an exact replica of a real (sometimes dwarfish) tree in miniature), 4,700 cars, 100 motorcycles, 14 trains, 3 helicopters, 32 aircraft, 175 ships and 230 trucks. An interesting form of the park layout in the form of a star is David, which takes into account the geographical directions of real objects. Each of the six triangles displays a specific area and city: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Galilee, Negev, as well as the central part of Israel. The models were created in workshops located throughout Israel, using sophisticated computerized assessments based on studies prepared by the staff of Mini Israel.

Also during the tour there will be a unique opportunity to visit the Latrun Monastery of the Virgin, founded in 1890 by the monastic order of trappist silence. The monastery is famous to this day with its wines produced from vineyards in the vicinity of the monastery, olives and olive oil and many other products produced by the monks of the monastery. In the store at the monastery there is an opportunity to purchase products of the monastery.

Jaffa is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Pilgrims from all corners came here to visit the Holy Land. At present the city is united with Tel Aviv into a single municipal unit. Hence, according to the legend, the Biblical prophet Jonah went on his way, here according to the legend Perse liberated Andromeda, according to the text of the New Testament, there was a vision for the apostle Peter, who here resurrected a girl named Tabitha from the dead. The ancient historical part of Jaffa is an interlacing of narrow, bright and picturesque streets, in which many restaurants, art galleries, artists’ studios, salons and museums with archeological excavations are located. Also here are temples and monasteries of various faiths.

The excursion begins at the place of accommodation of the tourists in Jerusalem (the address and time of the excursion beginning is indicated in advance by the guide). On the tour you need to have comfortable shoes, drinking water and a hat from the sun. Clothes should be like when visiting temples (men should not visit Churches in shorts, women should have clothes with closed shoulders, do not have a neckline, short skirts and shorts, you can wear trousers). At the request of tourists to the tour, you can add a visit to the city of Bethlehem. To cross the border post between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, tourists need to have a passport with them.