Silk Museum of San Floro

Silk Museum Castello Caracciolo, San Floro
The silk museum
The San Floro Silk Museum is located in the castle walls of Castello Caracciolo, overlooking the Corace Valley. The building's stones, believed to date from the 1400s, jealously preserve the relics of Calabrian history and have been the protagonists of the city of Catanzaro, considered the European silk capital between the 1300s and 1700s.
The first part of the museum preserves the historical costumes, damasks from Catanzaro as well as sacred damask clothing and industrial archeological textiles. Another area of the museum shows contemporary raw silk handicrafts, separated for crochet and handkerchiefs, which are made on a 4-shaft loom.
The third part of the museum is dedicated to mulberry trees, the silkworm and natural fibers. There is also an area reserved for natural dyes, with a rich selection of silk samples dyed with poppy seeds, red Tropea onions, madder roots, field flowers, St. John's wort and walnut shells.
Recently the section on silk worldwide was completed, with an exhibition of fabrics and traditional costumes from countries closely related to silk culture such as France, Thailand, India.
In the last part of the museum it is possible to see up close looms, whether old or not, on which the boys of the Cooperativa Nido di Seta (silk nest cooperative) used to weave the precious handicrafts. A wonderful weave of the past, present and future.
Text / source: turiscalabria.it
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