Land of the Lilliputians~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, Tech Marvels, TRAVEL REVIEWS

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One of the world’s top ten miniature museums is located in Victoria Canada. There are eighty-five exhibits here covering world history, Canadian history, fantasy, fairy tales, and even future space exploration.
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I loved the nostalgic look at the circus coming to town!

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There are dioramas depicting castles in England,
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Germany,
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and Canadian cities in the past.

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Many exhibits depict the frontier history and development of Canada.

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The museum has the world’s smallest working saw-mill which took eleven years to make,

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and one of the world’s longest model railways.
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These miniature worlds were created by George Devlin over the course of his lifetime. The museum opened in 1971 and George continues to expand it to this day.
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Cheers to you from Victoria’s fascinating Lilliputian World~

203 thoughts on “Land of the Lilliputians~”

    1. I believe it and there is still time! It is sort of tucked away. I love the world of miniatures and have been here a couple of times. My husband visited for the first time on our recent trip~

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    1. I barely scratched the surface. They are extensive English castles and many fairy tales including King Arthur & The Knights of the Roundtable. I was probably most interested in the frontier history of Canada. All the major cities are depicted.

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    1. Absolutely. I agree. There are 85 exhibits, all with this extraordinary attention to detail and working parts. Trains that run, lights that turn on, mills that saw, fairies that fly. It’s amazing!

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    1. I saw one somewhere near The Cotswalds a long time ago. I know there are more in the UK and I have to come back to see more of them. I love all of them, but the one’s you can walk through really do give one the feeling of being a walking giant!

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    1. It is always interesting for me to see a tourists view of where I live. I never fail to see something I haven’t seen. You have so much beauty in BC, I can understand that you can’t see all of it.

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      1. I fell in love with them back as a kid when my parents took me to Roadside America in Shartlesville, PA. It set off a frenzy of trains, model building, etc. Dad and I built everything from buildings to landscaping. A lot of fun.

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        1. I knew it! I think it is a amazing art form and your dad sounds wonderful. I can tell those are treasured memories. I would love to do a miniature house but I resist the impulse because I already spend too much on my full sized house! I could do a fairy garden though…….hmmm…

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  37. This is a wonderland. I love the small word. I could spend time looking at small details for each one of them. I am sure those who love to do model train would love to see model trains running in there too.

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  42. I’d never heard of this amazing museum. Thanks for sharing some of my Canadian culture here Cindy. 🙂 And I’m surprised they allow one to take photos.

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      1. Wow, how generous. And yes, I can imagine how the glass would present some sort of a problem, but you nailed it. Nobody would have known different. 🙂

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    1. Did you ever read ‘The Borrowers’ books as a kid? They were about tiny people who lived in our houses, hiding. I was addicted to these books as a kid, so I could get easily lost in the land of the littles with you!

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  51. Truly amazing! Thank you for sharing! There’s a museum here in New Zealand that’s very similar – I think it grew out of the owner’s modelling hobby. I’m struck by the stylistic similarities in many ways – I guess both Canada and NZ were part of the same ‘Pacific Frontier’.

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  52. Now that’s an amazing diorama! Cindy, how do you manage to find these just about everywhere you go? Is there a guide to dioramas somewhere? I can tell that all these scenes took a lot of work but wow, that bustling urban city scene on top… that ambiance is just right!

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    1. There was so much more that I couldn’t include. Replicas of castles and houses with highly detailed interiors. I love miniatures, so I do keep my eyes open for them, but this one I just happened to walk by! Hope all is well with you Lynn~ <3

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  53. I love little villages like that. Other countries have some too, they are just so fascinating with all the tiniest details. A joy to visit. These look all so real. Beautiful!

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  60. These are great, Cindy! I’d have loved seeing that working railroad, too (Domer was a BIG fan of railroads when he was a kid!). Must have required so much patience to put together these miniatures.

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    1. That is it for the Canada series I’m afraid, but we just drove into Utah, so we’re sure to see something interesting!! There is always something around the corner after all~

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  66. veramente spettacolare! anche in Italia abbiamo riprodotti molti bdei nostri bellissimi monumenti in miniatura, ma qui sono spettacolari le riproduzioni anche dellpambiente
    grazie mille

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  76. Hi Cindy, I remember seeing these a few years ago when we were out there and they are just so unbelievably detailed and accurate in their composition. Loved the pics. Hugs, Cuz. 🙂

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  83. Vibha Ravi (PixelVoyages)

    Wow! Amazing effect of a stupendous effort. As a kid, I and my sister had a doll house that we would used to put sundry things in and pretend they were objects we imagined. This is definitely worth a visit. Some day…

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    1. It is definitely worth a visit, and yes all the grown up kids who used to play with dollhouses and model trains will be transported here back to those imaginative days of childhood~ <3

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