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The Ringling Circus Museum

Sarasota, Sarasota County

BUILT BY ONE PERSON

8STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN

Gallery photo

WHAT IT IS

A Venetian Gothic palace on Sarasota Bay, an art museum, and a 3,800-square-foot miniature circus built over fifty years by one man.

John Ringling made a fortune in circuses and spent it on Ca' d'Zan, a bayfront palace with a terracotta tower, and on old master paintings. The estate also holds the Howard Bros. Circus model: a scale replica of the entire travelling operation, 44,000 pieces, eight tents, 152 wagons, built across five decades by Howard Tibbals, who kept adding. The scale of the obsession is the exhibit.

HOW IT SCORES

Rarity8/10

Is there anywhere else like it?

Backstory10/10

How did this come to be?

Disrepair3/10

What is holding it together?

Commitment9/10

How far do they take the bit?

NEARBY

Pinecraft4 mi · Sarasota Warm Mineral Springs26 mi · North Port The Dalí Museum32 mi · St. Petersburg

BEFORE YOU DRIVE

ENTRY FEE: $25 estate ticket
HOURS: Daily 10am–5pm
BEST TIME: Weekday. Allow twice as long as you planned.
HOW LONG: Half a day
PARKING: Paid lot on site
PAYMENT: Cards accepted
ACCESS: Fully accessible

COORDINATES

27.3131° N, 82.5636° W

5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota.

OPEN IN MAPS →

DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.