When planning a family holiday in the Costa Blanca, parents explore the excursion possibilities of the big cities — Benidorm, Alicante, and Torrevieja. But just 20km from the coast is the tiny mountain village of Guadaleste, almost entirely made up of attractions. Under the name Museo Belen y de casitas de muñecas, there is a toy museum, dear to every child's heart.
The museum is unique, as one man makes all the pieces. For 15 years, Antonio Marco, as the museum's owner is called, has created miniature houses, populated them with human figures and filled them with different objects. The author used only natural, environmentally friendly materials to work on the miniatures.
There is also a small exhibition dedicated to vintage toys. Cars make up a large part of it, but there's also something for girls to admire: Antonio Marco has a collection of miniature prams made with jewel-like finesse.
What can be seen at the Doll's House Museum in Guadaleste? Tiny living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms with excellent detailing: on the lady's dressing table, you will find bottles of perfume and jewellery; on the walls — photos of loved ones; and in the small fireplace, there will be dancing fire: no hi-tech, just the luxury of antiquity. And the inconvenience of antiquity, too: in one of the bedrooms, there is a night pot by the bed.
The master has also created many miniatures on the theme of different professions. You can visit a baker, a pharmacist, a greengrocer, a lawyer and a dentist, a trendsetter in a shop, a shoe shop or a hairdresser. Every such scene would fit on a small desk.
The Museo Antonio Marco in Guadaleste also has its mini-city, with houses no taller than a man's height nestled in the cliffs. The town has its train service, and the tiny train rumbles like a real one. One of the houses has a nativity scene. But there are many more dioramas with biblical themes in another of Antonio Marchi's museums, in the town of Polop.
Once in Guadaleste, you can also visit the cliff-top San José castle, built in the 11th century, the historic car museum, the museums of micro-miniatures and micro-giants and wander the mountain trails.
