Abu Hijleh palace - Deir Istiya
Abu Hijleh Palace is located in the center of the old town of Deir Istiya. It was built about 600 years ago with three floors in the center of the old town of Deir Istiya. It is considered the highest point in the town, rising about 453 meters above sea level. People who visit the palace can see the Palestinian coastal plain from the roof of the palace when the sky is clear, especially during the early morning and sunset periods.
The palace was owned by an Ottoman prince who was at the time a military governor of the region, and the palace’s building stones were brought from the village of Jama’in, and it was built using olive oil and mud plaster, and it was designed with a height of three floors so that the town and its residents would be under the control of the ruler and his army. During the period of the Ottoman battles, it was inhabited by the Qasim family that was loyal to the Ottomans at that time, then the Abu Hijleh family owned it 110 years ago. Among its ten spacious and large rooms, it included a gallows and a very small room used as a dungeon, residential rooms for Ottoman soldiers and guards, a horse stable, water wells, and olive oil wells, where the owner used oil instead of mud plaster to complete the construction of its walls after the water well ran out, which indicates the outrageous wealth at that time.
In 2016, the municipality of Deir Istiya contracted with the Abu Hijleh family to acquire the palace for a period of 20 years in return for restoring and preserving it, and turning it into a tourist hotel or guest house. It will be the first tourism investment