Our last day in the Sarasota area

On our last full day in the Sarasota area, the prediction was rain — so we decided to go to the Ringling Estate which includes the Ringling mansion (named Cà d’Zan), a circus museum, and an art museum.

John Ringling was the youngest of the 5 Ringling brothers who founded the Ringling Circus. The 5 Ringling brothers performed skits and juggling routines in town halls before they began their first circus in 1884 in Baraboo, Wisconsin. By the late 1880s the circus had established itself as one of the largest and best-run circuses in the country.

In 1907 the brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus and ran the two circuses separately until they merged them into one unit in 1919

 The circus museum was wonderful — we took a tour with a docent who described how the traveling circus was an amazing logistical operation. For example, before the circus performers, animals, etc. arrived in a town, the advance team would travel, set up, and be prepared to feed the 1500 people (performers and support staff) when they arrived later in the morning. The arrival of the circus included a parade, the erection of a "city" of tents and an infusion into the local economy.

In 1927 John Ringling made Sarasota the Winter Quarters of the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey® Circus, many of the performers moved to the immediate area, so Sarasota has a rich history of the circus.
















John Ringling and his wife, Mable,  traveled throughout Europe for nearly 25 years, acquiring circus acts and art. They both greatly admired the architectural style of Venice’s Ducal Palace, Ca’ d’Oro and the Grunwald Hotel which they took as their inspiration when they decided to build a home in Sarasota, Florida.

One of America’s wealthiest couples, the Ringlings started building Cà d’Zan in 1924 and completed in 1926 at the then sum of $1.5 million. Cà d’Zan is Venetian for “House of John.”

The 36,000 square-foot house sits on a waterfront site and is five stories tall. Constructed from terra cotta blocks, concrete and brick, it is covered with stucco and terra cotta and embellished with glazed tile.

Sadly, only three years after its completion, Mable died from Addison’s disease and the complications of diabetes. When John Ringling died in December of 1936, he bequeathed his estate to the people of Florida, but legal wrangling with his creditors went on for a decade. During this time Cà d’Zan remained closed. Finally, in 1946 it was reopened to the public.

While we were there, workers were setting up for an evening wedding — we looked it up online to see how much it would cost to have a wedding at Cà d’Zan — it is a lot! :-)

Speaking of weddings, after our time at the Ringling Estate, we headed back to Siesta Key beach to see if we could catch a sunset. While we didn't see a sunset, we caught 3 more weddings taking place. It was a cold windy night for the bridal parties!

We really enjoyed our day!