Marikina Shoe Museum

Marikina has been the centre of Philippine shoemaking since the nineteenth century, and the museum on Rizal Street covers that trade: the tools and workshops of the local industry, shoes made by Marikina craftsmen across the decades, and displays on the city's peak as a manufacturing centre and its decline under imported competition. It is best known, however, for a different collection - several hundred pairs of shoes that belonged to Imelda Marcos, transferred to the city in the 1990s. The museum presents them as objects with a label rather than an argument, and visitors bring their own reading. Elsewhere in the collection are shoes donated by presidents, actors and other public figures. It takes under an hour and pairs with a walk around Marikina's riverbanks and the shoe shops that still operate in the city.

History

The building that houses the museum was built in the 1860s, in the Spanish period, as an arsenal; it later served as a motor pool in the American era and as a rice mill of the Tuason family. After renovation in the late 1990s it opened as the Marikina Footwear Museum on 16 February 2001 (Wikipedia, Marikina Shoe Museum).

What you'll find

• The Marcos collection - hundreds of pairs from Malacañang.
• The trade displays - tools and shoes from Marikina's workshops.
• The donated pairs - shoes from presidents and public figures.
• The city context - the shoemaking district around the museum.

When to go

Year-round; weekday mornings are quiet. The museum keeps limited hours and closes on some days - check before travelling across Metro Manila.

Practical notes

It is small and the presentation is basic. The Marcos shoes are displayed with minimal historical framing - readers who want the political context should bring it with them. An hour covers everything.

Nearby

Marikina's riverbanks and shoe shops are close; Antipolo and Pinto Art Museum are half an hour east.

Key facts