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International Shoe Museum – Vigevano

Collection of about 4500 footwear. Open all year long

International Shoe Museum - Lombardy - Italy
All year long Lombardia -Vigevano  Art-Culture-History | Exhibits-Museums-Visits

The International Shoe Museum is located in a prestigious space of 11 rooms inside the luxurious Castello Sforzesco in Vigevano.

Vigevano is considered one of the Italian shoe “capitals” and that’s why it hosts this Museum, which tells the story of the relationship between Vigevano and the best shoes.

The Museum is based on the legacy of Cavalier Pietro Bertolini, who became a successful industrialist in the shoe factory and started to collect historical footwear, documents, objects related to the shoe world since the 1930s.

 

The Pietro Bertolini collection, left to the city of Vigevano in 1948, has continued to grow and today boasts a vast and precious heritage, enriched over time by donations and acquisitions.

Important donations have come to the Museum:
– about 200 models from the donation of Benedicte Jourdan, Charles Jourdan heir;
Aldo Sacchetti rich collection;
– some precious pieces by André Perugia from the donation of Madame La Faury, a prestigious collector.
Donations from designers and operators were added; some very large such as Armando Pollini, El Vaquero, Nello Nembro, Fornasiero, and others.

The heritage of the Museum includes about 4,500 shoes that are exhibited in rotation in collections of about 500 artifacts, the oldest is a shoe that belonged to Beatrice d’Este (late 1400) up to contemporary models with many interesting curiosities, like the (original) one that belonged to Marylin Monroe.

USEFUL INFORMATION
Open all year long
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 2 pm> 5.30 pm
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, from 10 am> 6 pm
Closed on Mondays
Admission with a fee € 5.00 which also includes the art gallery
Reductions for children and over 65s and for holders of Touring, FAI cards…
Free access to those who have the Lombard Civic Museums card
The ticket office is at the Infopoint at the entrance to the Castle
For information: Infopoint +39 0381.691.636
It is recommended to wear a safety mask and to keep an interpersonal distance of at least 1 meter.

Photos from the official website of the museum

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