Bata Shoe Museum

Bata Shoe Museum Review

Created by Sonja Bata, wife of the founder of the Bata Shoe Company, this shoe museum holds a permanent collection of 10,000 varieties of foot coverings and, through the changing fashions, highlights the craft and sociology of making shoes. Some items date back more than 4,000 years. Pressurized skydiving boots, iron-spiked shoes used for crushing chestnuts, and smugglers' clogs are among the items on display. Elton John's boots have proved wildly popular, but Marilyn Monroe's red leather pumps give them a run for their money. Ongoing exhibits such as "Chronicles of the Riches" have featured the bear-fur shoes of samurai and Napoléon Bonaparte's black silk socks. Admission is free every Thursday from 5 to 8 pm.