Igualada Leather Museum

The Igualada Leather Museum, located in Igualada, Catalonia, was created in 1954 and was the first leather museum in Spain, and the third one in Europe. The collections are displayed in two nearby buildings in Igualada: the "Cal Boyer" building, a former cotton textile factory from the late 19th century, and the "Cal Granotes" building, an 18th-century tannery.Leather Museum, at "Cal Boyer"The Leather Museum, at the "Cal Boyer" building, headquarter of the museum, constitutes the cornerstone of the museum approach. Due to its characteristics and structure it is a unique and pioneering museum, one of the top three in Europe of its kind.There are three exhibition areas: "leather in history", a "world of leather", and "industrialization". The first one, "leather in history", presents aspects of the production, use and cultural significance of leather in the Mediterranean civilization, from the distant past to recent times, including prehistory, the tanning of hides, leather in ancient Greece and ancient Rome worlds, parchments, bookbinding, shell cordovan use, guadamecil painted or gilded embossed leather (an ancient leather crafting technique), and two traditional professions such as shoemakers and horse tack makers.