The Balcón de la Expedición Balmis is a monument located at the Museo Domus (Rúa Ángel Rebollo 91), an interactive museum devoted to the human being, in A Coruña. It was inaugurated on November 30, 2003, by the City Council to commemorate the bicentennial of the Real Expedición Filantrópica de la Vacuna, whose aim was to bring the smallpox vaccine to Spain’s overseas territories.
The balcony looks out directly over the Atlantic Ocean—the same ocean the expedition crossed after departing from the port of A Coruña on November 30, 1803, bound for America. The plaques bear the names of the 22 children who carried the vaccine, most of them with their ages recorded: Benito Vélez; Jacinto (6 years old); Manuel María (3); Andrés Naya (8); Vicente María Sale y Belido; José Jorge Nicolás de los Dolores (3); Domingo Naya (6); José (3); Clemente (6); Juan Francisco (9); Cándido (7); Francisco Florencio (5); Francisco Antonio (9); Gerónimo María (7); José Manuel María (7); Pascual Aniceto (3); Antonio Veredia (7); Juan Antonio (5); Vicente Ferrer (7); and Martín (3).1
The names of Francisco Xavier Balmis, director of the expedition; José Salvany Lleopart, deputy director; and Isabel Zendal Gómez, the nurse responsible for caring for the children, also appear.
At the center of the balcony, on a plaque set into a monolith of pink granite, the following inscription can be read:
“NO ME IMAGINO QUE EN LOS ANALES DE LA HISTORIA / HAYA UN EJEMPLO DE FILANTROPÍA TAN NOBLE Y / GRANDE COMO ESTA” (EDWARD JENNER, 1806) / “ESTE VIAJE PERMANECERÁ COMO EL MÁS / MEMORABLE EN LOS ANALES DE LA HISTORIA” (ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT,1825) / BALCÓN DE LA EXPEDICIÓN BALMIS / DESDE ESTE LUGAR PERDEMOS DE VISTA LOS BARCOS / QUE SE DIRIGEN AL OTRO LADO DEL ATLÁNTICO./ EL 30 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 1803 LA CORBETA / MARÍA PITA SALIÓ DE LA CORUÑA RUMBO A AMÉRICA / CON LA MISIÓN DE LLEVAR LA VACUNA DE LA VIRUELA A LOS / TERRITORIOS ESPAÑOLES DE ULTRAMAR./ CUANDO SE CUMPLE EL BICENTENARIO DE ESE VIAJE, / EL AYUNTAMIENTO DE LA CORUÑA DEDICA ESTE HOMENAJE / A LOS PROTAGONISTAS DE LA EXPEDICIÓN: / LOS DOCTORES BALMIS Y SALVANY, DÑA. ISABEL CENDALA Y GÓMEZ / Y VEINTIDÓS NIÑOS CORUÑESES. / AYUNTAMIENTO DE LA CORUÑA / CONCELLO DE A CORUÑA
“I cannot imagine that in the annals of history / there exists an example of philanthropy so noble and / so great as this” (Edward Jenner, 1806) / “This journey will remain as the most / memorable in the annals of history” (Alexander von Humboldt, 1825) / Balcón de la Expedición Balmis / From this place we lose sight of the ships / sailing toward the other side of the Atlantic. / On November 30, 1803, the corvette / María Pita set sail from A Coruña bound for America / with the mission of bringing the smallpox vaccine to the / Spanish overseas territories. / On the bicentennial of that voyage, / the City Council of A Coruña dedicates this tribute / to the protagonists of the expedition: / Doctors Balmis and Salvany, Doña Isabel Cendala y Gómez / and twenty-two children from A Coruña. / City Council of A Coruña
- Photos and main text by Sabela Nóvoa Gómez moc.liamg|im9211ebas#| (December 2025)
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