Al-Maniya

Al-Maniya (Arabic: ﺔﻴِﻨﺍ‎, also spelled al-Minya) is a Palestinian village in the Bethlehem Governorate in the central West Bank, 8.6 km southeast of Bethlehem and just south of Tuqu'. It incorporates the nearby hamlet of Wadi Muhammad within its jurisdiction. Most of the village, including much of its built-up area, is in Area C, giving the Israeli military full control over the village. It had a population of 1,012 in the 2007 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

History

The village was founded by immigrants from the southern town of Sa'ir near Hebron. According to local legend, its name derives from a cave in the vicinity that inhabited by a Byzantine-era queen named "Maniya." There is one mosque, the Palestine Mosque, in the village.

French explorer Victor Guérin passed by the place in 1863, and described it as having ruins "of little importance." In 1883, Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine, it was described as having "foundations and ruined walls, with one or two caves, which are inhabited."