Almalfi is a coastal town on the Amalfi Coast about an hour and a half from Sorrento.
Its white and yellow buildings crouch over the harbor. They greet visitors with shops and restaurants. Crowds come to explore the winding streets, back alleys, and the famous coast!
However, through the busy main piazza and down a quiet street lies a museum resting on a corner.
The museum is a white flat-roofed building with a lot of paper. But underneath the museum, down a set of stairs, in a cold cave-like basement, lies the knowledge of how to hand-make it!
The Amalfi Paper Museum and Mill
The Museo della Carta or Paper Museum, shows visitors Amalfi’s rich history of handmade paper (bambagina).
This process is through several machines that produce paper from cloth fibers.
This practice has been around since the discovery of paper attributed to Ts’ai Lun in 105 B.C.E.
Amalfi’s paper mill goes back to the 13th century when Nicola Milano, a veteran of papermills, worked when he was 13.
Milano left the mill for technical school but returned in 1917 to replace his father who got called to arms in WWI.
After this turbulent time, Milano succeeded in carrying on the family paper mills.
However, he had to close the mills.
This was due to poor road connections, making transport costs expensive. The last one closed in 1969. Milano donated the mill in 1971.
The museum aims to preserve the art of paper making to keep handmade paper alive.
Tours and Features
Inside the museum is a warm red-brown tile and off-white gift shop.
Sunlight streams in from the windows, highlighting the shop’s oak shelves. These shelves hold different kinds of paper and calligraphy gifts.
At the register is a worker selling tickets and packaging gifts. There is a sign for tickets and tours next to the worker. It reads:
“General admission, explore the mill for yourself (costs from 3,00 to 4,50 euros) or go on one of three guided tours”.
- The first guided tour is the VIP Handmade Paper Experience.
The Handmade Paper Experience is a tour without any other guests and gives a first-hand experience of creating paper.
It is 12,00 to 15,00 € to go. It is a highly recommended experience.
- A second tour is a Guided Visit with a Hand Made Experience.
This tour is not exclusive but includes participating in handmaking a sheet of paper. The visit is 6,00 to 7,00 €.
- The final tour is the Amalfi Lemon and Paper Experience.
This excursion starts with a bright leafy lemon garden. Handmade paper and IGP Lemons created a fun tour available from March 1st through October 30th.
This includes a guided tour of the IGP Lemon Garden and a guided tour of the paper museum. The tour is for guests who want to learn more about Amalfl’s history and the lemons and paper that are a part of it.
Despite the differences in these tours, guests can see the machines and processes of making paper.
But these tours help guests understand paper making (or lemon growing) and how Amalfi plays a part in it.
The Amalfi Papermaking history
The soft light from outside streams into the cool underground cave.
There is no echo of feet or words in this odd basement but the high ceilings leave enough room for taller guests. The rooms’ walls are rock.
But the metal and wooden machines, and a tour guide, show guests the artisans who have been handmaking paper for years.
Amalfi was at the height of paper-making by the 13th century. Eleven mills opened and the coastal town became a booming innovative production center. The townspeople were thriving.
Generations of paper makers kept the mills running.
But this productive time did not happen overnight. It all started with a ban and a trade deal.
A century before the Amalfi paper production, Frederick II (the former king of Sicily) banned using handmade paper for notarial documents.
Frederick II believed it was less permanent than parchment.
This ban was in Naples, Sorrento, and Amalfi. He urged people to continue to use parchment.
However, Amalfi, in close contact with the eastern Mediterranean ports, continued to receive handmade paper.
It is possible that the Arabs imported the paper and the process of making it. The people of Amalfi were skillful in making paper and the ban became forgotten.
There were 16 mills in Amalfi by the end of the 18th century.
The mills, hidden in citrus groves and waterfalls, were beautiful places to create paper.
However, the paper mills were unfortunately retired in the 19th century due to flooding and poor roadways.
Regardless of this sad end, Amalfi is famous for its paper and its role in paper history.
The Paper Museum continues to thrive and show visitors how to make bambagina.
Ciao!
Emalee