We begin the visit to the museum on the first floor, with access for disabled people as the rest of the building. A screen of 36 square meters explains us, by an audiovisuals, the magical dates of August when our town is transformed to start the Moors and Christians.

The visit follows the room dedicated to clothing, where you can see the evolution of the Ontinyent “comparsas” dresses from the older. It is important to notice the suits from two disappeared “comparsas”: Churros and another from the first feasts of the Caballitos.

 

The act of River Night, that in the dawn of our party congregated almost all the inhabitants of Ontinyent near river falls to share moments of celebration with the “comparasas” of the time, share the room with two important celebrities for our celebrations: Jose Maria Ferrero Pastor, the Master, and Bishop Teodoro Ubeda Gramage, who was Bishop of the Diocese of Mallorca. The legacy of these festive protagonists of our feasts were donated to our museum to share with our visitors; from this important legacy, it is necessary to note the manuscript score of the Moorish march “Chimo” by the Master or the Djellaba that Bishop Teodoro Ubeda used in the great days of the festivities in Ontinyent.

 

The visit continues on the space dedicated to the Festive Society, which contained records as how the Society’s building was or several awards and accolades that are given year after year, particularly in emotional ceremony of Teardrop Lunch. Together these memories, there is a display dedicated to a figure already disappeared from our feasts: The Queen of the festivities, between 1960 and 1992 constituted the representation of women in our party. We also find a space dedicated to the figure of the herald who, for some years, at the Castle being responsible for one of the most important acts in the beginning of the great days: the Proclamation.

 

Finally, there are two areas of special memories for the history of our feast: the display of old photographs containing images of the XIX^th and XX^th centuries and the memory of what was the II Congress of the Moors and Christians held in Ontinyent in 1985 with images, publications and memories of what was important national festive event for our town.

 

The plant also houses a room dedicated to administrative work and consultation documents for visitors, as well as an archive which are saved more than 6,000 snapshots, taken in our celebrations over the years, or more than 1,000 books about diverse towns also held Moorish and Christians, among other objects.