Not All Pals. Are Poor

Isn't this a nice story?

Amid poverty, a Renaissance villa in the West Bank

A Palestinian tycoon has created a tranquil paradise on a Holy Land mountaintop, with a replica of a famous Renaissance villa, sculpted gardens and a wrought-iron pavilion that once belonged to a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte...Munib Masri (see bio) is unapologetic, noting during a tour of his estate this week that he invests in the Palestinian economy, not abroad, and that he's trying to get others to follow.



...While other well-off Palestinians have built large, ornate villas, Masri's manor is unrivaled in the West Bank because of its Renaissance design and the sprawling estate it sits on.

...Masri and other entrepreneurs formed the Palestine Investment and Development Co., turning an initial capital outlay of $150 million into assets of more than $2 billion - about one-fourth of the Palestinian economy.

Critics say some of the profits were made possible by a lucrative telecommunications monopoly the company held for several years.

Masri's villa sits atop Mount Gerizim, considered sacred by the Samaritans, an ancient sect that practices an offshoot of Judaism and whose descendants live nearby.

The mansion is an exact copy of a famous 16th-century villa, known as "La Rotonda," built by Italian architect Andrea Palladio. It is capped by a rotunda and has temple fronts with columns on four sides.



Construction began in 1998, with most material imported from France in 200 40-foot shipping containers. The work continued after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, and at the height of fighting, Israeli tanks took up positions on his property for a while, Masri said.

At one point, bulldozers laid bare the edge of a floor mosaic.

Masri halted the work and brought in archaeologists who discovered the remnants of a Byzantine monastery. The dig has been incorporated into the mansion, and artifacts, including the clergy's heavy metal crosses, are displayed in a small museum.

...The grounds feature a goldfish pond, a swimming pool, an amphitheater and a garden pavilion of glass-and-iron - a gift from Napoleon III to a mistress, Masri said.

Masri is now planting 20,000 olive trees that will eventually pay for the upkeep of the estate with their oil. Workers carted away 28,000 truckloads of rocks and spread 30,000 truckloads of soil to create the terraces typical of West Bank groves.

He said he may bequeath the property to a Palestinian state, with his descendants - he has six children - guaranteed the right to live there.

...Inside the villa, a treasure chest of antiques is displayed, including paintings by Picasso and Modigliani, and a tapestry once owned by King Louis XIV...