Few people know that if you spend your holiday in the region Marche you can enjoy several shopping opportunities and buy strightly in the factories some quality Made in Italy products – especially shoes, bag, clothing….. Local shoe manucturers own such skills that are worldwide famous for their excellent products.
The shoes manufacturing has old origins: Boccaccio, the famous Renaissance author of the“Decameron ” reported that the shoes produced by the artisans in Montegranaro and Sant’Elpidio a Mare were so beautiful and valuable that they exported not only to Tuscany, but even to the Balkan countries.
In the 15th century, several artisan shops were created in Sant’Elpidio a Mare and formed the shoemakers ‘ Guilds, but it seems that only in the early Nineteenth century the institution of a footwear district was established, which then included the municipalities of Sant’Elpidio a Mare, Montegranaro, Monte Urano and Monte San Giusto. Cloth or leather slippers were manufactured there for the regional market, then for the Vatican Country and the Kingdom of Naples. In the Nineteenth century, with the invention of the pedal sewing machine, production increased and workers were emplyed and even women workers, also from neighbouring municipalities. In the Twentieth century these shops became family-run and young people were attracted by this type of job, more profitable and less tiring than working in the fields. At the end of the 1960s, industrial production made the footwear district worldwide renowned.
Together with industrialization, a fragmentation of the manufacturing took place and specialized companies developed such as upper and heel factories. But there are also skilled craftsmen who are able to carry out the entire manufacturing process to customize shoes according to the shape of the foot and the customer’s taste. The fine shoes produced in the district follow the rules of traditional production using leather for uppers and soles. Nevertheless there is such creativity and aesthetic innovation, which are the main features determining its worldwide success.
A production with such local roots deserved the establishment of a museum: The Shoe Museum created in 1998 in the charming town of Sant’Elpidio a Mare, which despite its name, is perched on a hill not far away from the coast. The Museum is divided into three sections. The first is an exhibition of rare specimen, from reproductions of Roman shoes up to the present day, in a path where it allows you to admire footwear and tools from every age and origin. The second is dedicated to shoes that belonged to personalities from religion, entertainment, sport and art or culture. The third shows a faithful reproduction of an artisan workshop and of shoes that have won prizes and awards.
At this point it will be difficult to resist the call of the many outlets scattered around the area, where there is a direct contact between manufacturer and consumer and it is easy to make excellent purchases.
Carla Virili
