Located inside the Basilica of Santa Croce, in the Antico Noviziato, one of Florence’s most renowned artisan enterprises recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. The Scuola del Cuoio, with its unique location in the historic church, was founded after World War II to train orphaned youth in the artisan trade of leather-making.
With Father Bernardino Farnetani, provincial head of the Franciscan order at the time, leather craftsman Marcello Gori established the Scuola del Cuoio in 1950. Its first students came from Pisa’s ‘Citta’ dei Ragazzi’, a Franciscan association that aided orphaned youth in the post-war period.
Through the years, the Scuola del Cuoio has become synonymous with high-quality, hand made leather goods, with clients as prestigious as members of the Rockefeller family, the British Royal family and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
