The Footwear Museum

The museum aims to preserve the craft, culture and history of shoemaking. Elda became an important centre for shoemaking in the nineteenth century. By the 1960s, footwear was Spain’s largest export industry and Elda hosted international footwear fairs (FICIA). The museum opened in its purpose-built building in 1999. It was renamed in 2015, El Museo del Calzado Jose María Amat Amer, after the professor who worked from the late 1980s with students to collect items for future exhibitions. The first section looks at equipment used in shoemaking – the lasts to shape shoes and machines for sewing and wrapping. A gallery shows a remarkable collection of footwear of all sorts, dating from ancient times to the present and made in many parts of the world. Another gallery looks at prize-winning designers and their products. Shoes are included that were worn by royalty, sports stars and performers. A library and archive includes graphics for the promotion and marketing of shoes.