Museo Circo de los Muchachos
Museum on the Circo de los Muchachos and the Ciudad de los Muchachos of Benposta, founded by Padre Silva; temporarily closed and relocated to Benposta.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The museum commemorates the Circo de los Muchachos and the Ciudad de los Muchachos in Benposta, the educational and youth self-management project that Father Jesús Silva Méndez founded in the late 1950s near Seixalbo, in Ourense, for homeless children. The community had a council run by the children themselves, a bank with its own currency, a supermarket, a petrol station and schools. The first circus school in Spain was founded there.
The circus, which had no animals, toured Europe, Asia and America and performed at venues such as the Grand Palais in Paris and Madison Square Garden in New York. After Father Silva's death in 2011, the Asociación Cultural Padre Silva was set up, which opened the museum in February 2019 on calle Bailén, in the old town of Ourense, to preserve this history.
The museum later moved to Benposta, where many of the facilities of the former Ciudad de los Muchachos stood, including the last school, next to the circus tent. Its collection brings together posters, leaflets, photographs, press cuttings, audiovisual material, costumes and other objects. The museum is listed as temporarily closed.
Highlights
- History of the Circo de los Muchachos, the first circus school in Spain
- Posters, leaflets, photographs and press cuttings
- Costumes and audiovisual material from the circus
- Memory of Padre Silva's Ciudad de los Muchachos
Permanent exhibition
- Historia del Circo de los Muchachos – Posters, leaflets, photographs, press cuttings, audiovisual material and costumes recalling the circus and the Ciudad de los Muchachos. Not visitable while the closure lasts.
- Founded
- 2019
- Operated by
- Asociación Cultural Padre Silva
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Free admission.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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