The
"BAHAY NA BATO" (stone house) which houses the
museum was originally used as an arsenal during the Spanish
period. It later became a detention cell of General Macario
Sakay one of the last katipunero leaders who resisted
the American Occupation in the Philippine American War.
The building later evolved into a motor pool servicing
the needs of the American soldiers and then get converted
into a "BIGASANG BAYAN" (rice mill) by the prominent
Tuazon family for their hacienda in the aftermath of World
War 2. It was in 1998, recognizing the significant of
this landmark edifice, when Chairman Bayani "BF"
Fernando, then city mayor transformed the age-old structure
into the very first Marikina Museum-a window to the long
surviving shoe industry.
Dedicated to the unflagging hard work and ingenuity of
the Marikeños, the Marikina Shoe Museum serves
as a momento of the world-class craftsmanship and innate
good taste of a city renowned for being the Shoe Capital
of the Philippines.
The First and only Footware Museum in the country it boasts
of an expensive shoe collection donated by well-known
personalities-politicians, celebrities, athletes, artists,
global leaders and even controversial figures.
From
the elegant and imeldific size 778 pairs of size 9 shoes
owned by the Former First Lady imelda Marcos, to the size
5 conservative no nonsense office shoes of Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo, one would simply be amazed that a pair of shoes
can tell a person's lifestyle and personality.
Also
housed in the museum are the old tools used in shoemaking,
a life-size tableau of a FAMILY of shoe makers and a gamut
of fancy-eye candy shoe miniatures done in glass, wood,
paper, shell, stone, cloth and ceramics.
