Spain is home to the world's largest collection of toy soldiers and historical miniatures

Around 100,000 pieces are always on display and over one million more are in storage. Display cases are spread across a dozen rooms, each with a particular theme - for example, World War I, ancient Rome, the US Civil War and medieval England ·

J. F. Alonso

Saturday, 5 October 2024, 08:26

The Museo L'Iber is not the most popular museum in Valencia, nor are there usually queues at the entrance. Yet it is such an interesting rendezvous that it fuels many of the conversations of those who have visited it upon their return home. According to Guinness World Records it holds the world's largest collection of toy soldiers and historical miniatures. In round numbers, about 100,000 are on display and over a million in the storerooms, patiently waiting their turn to find a place on a display shelf or a full-scale landscape, waiting to have their moment of glory in a temporary exhibition.

This private collection, assembled by Valencian businessman and economist Álvaro Noguera, then inherited and expanded by his son Alejandro, began to be laid out and catalogued in 1981, although the museum as such was not inaugurated until 2006, the year his father died. The museum is located within the so-called Palace of the Marquises of Malferit, which, like the collection, is also worth a visit.

The 'palace' was a Muslim-owned country house until the arrival of King Jaime I, and later it was the palatial home of the Brizuela family who built the grand staircase (14th century) and the building around it (15th century). Over the years it belonged to the Mercader family, who lost the property on a wager to one of the Malferit family (the title of marquis was awarded to this family in 1692). During the Spanish Civil War the justice ministry was based here. Then, in 1945, the palace was purchased by the Noguera family, the current owners.

In such a setting this collection of tin soldiers, spanning two centuries of history, is all the more impressive. As Guinness World Records says, the figures occupy display cases spread across a dozen rooms, each with a particular theme - for example, World War I, ancient Rome, the US Civil War and medieval England. There is even a full-scale recreation of the 1707 Battle of Almansa with thousands of figures fighting in a vast, miniature model landscape, all done to scale.

There are also many showcases dedicated to the Silk Road, an idea Alejandro Noguera launched in 2016, when Unesco declared Valencia the capital of this historic trade and cultural route. From China (with figures made by the company King & Country, owned by a Briton living in Hong Kong) to Spain. This autumn there will also be a temporary exhibition on Marco Polo, the great traveller and explorer, to celebrate the 700th anniversary of his birth.

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In the exhibition there are pieces made by the museum team, sculpted and painted. There are others that arrived disassembled, in kit form, made by others, which are then assembled and transformed by the team in Valencia , such as those dedicated to Tirant lo Blanch, the novel by Joanot Martorell. There are also those that are exactly as they were made by the manufacturer, like The Little Prince or Asterix and Obelix. There are also figurines that were bought at auction, bequeathed or donated. Last but not least are those that come from specific commissions made to the museum, such as the space dedicated to Corpus Christi.

The Battle of Almansa is the largest model in the museum, with 9,000 figures depicting the events of 25 April 1707. Other displays are dedicated to the Embrace of Vergara (better known as the Convention of Vergara - a peace treaty signed on 31 August 1839 to stop the infighting between the Carlists and the Constitutionalists in Spain), 55 days in Peking and the handing over of the keys of Granada city are also worth mentioning.

The museum (located on Calle de Caballeros 22, telephone: 963 918 675) organises workshops, book presentations, conferences and even offers guided talks around the world related to all this history, usually led by Alejandro Noguera himself. Only by offering so many events and experiences can this palace be maintained along with this very special collection.

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