In March 1976 when he was 26, Escobar married Maria Victoria. She was 11 years younger than him. Together they had two children: Juan Pablo and Manuela. Escobar built and lived in a luxurious house with his family. He wanted to construct a Greek-style citadel near it. They began the construction of the citadel but never finished. The ranch, the zoo and the citadel were expropriated by the government. They were given to poor families in the 1990s under a law called "extinción de dominio" (domain extinction).