Museum of Toys and Automata facts for kids
| Museu de Joguets i Autòmats | |
The museum's interior
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| Established | 2004 |
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| Dissolved | 2013 |
| Location | 23 Plaça Major 25340, Verdú Catalonia, Spain |
The Museum of Toys and Automata (in Catalan language Museu de Joguets i Autòmats) was a special museum in Verdú, Catalonia, Spain. It showed amazing toys and automata (which are like old-fashioned robots or moving mechanical figures). The museum opened its doors in 2004. It closed in 2013, and the building later became an art gallery.
What Was the Museum About?
This unique museum was started by a local person named Manel Mayoral. He had collected many old toys and cool moving machines over the years. His collection was very large and interesting.
The museum was a place where visitors could see these old toys and automata. It was a fun way to learn about how toys have changed. It also showed how people used to make moving figures before modern robots.
The Museum's Special Building
The Museum of Toys and Automata was located in an old house called "Cal Jan." This house was in the main square of Verdú. It had three floors and covered a huge area. More than 2000 square meters were used for the museum. About half of this space was a new part added to the old building.
History of Cal Jan
"Cal Jan" was built a very long time ago, in the 15th century. Many other buildings on the same street were also built around that time. Over the years, Cal Jan became a very important house in Verdú.
You can still see some interesting old parts of the house. For example, the stone frames above the first-floor balconies are from the early 17th century. There is even a date carved on the outside of the house: 1695. This shows when the house was rebuilt.
In 1999, work began to turn this historic house into a museum. The building was made bigger and changed a lot inside. This made it perfect for showing off the collection of toys and automata.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Juguetes y Autómatas para niños
