Paper museum of Amalfi: all infos

The Amalfi’s Museo della Carta (Paper Museum) is housed in an ancient paper mill and it is located in the upper part of the town, in the Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills), in Via delle Cartiere 24.

To get there you simply walk along the main street of Amalfi for about 15 minutes and you will find the Paper museum on your left.

Why a Paper museum in Amalfi?

Because right here the paper manufacturing spread, right here the paper mills that made Amalfi famous worldwide for its “refined paper manufacturing” opened.

All these paper mills opened in the Mills Valley, that unfortunately was subject to flood and drought; due to the valley location the paper manufacturing begun gradually to ease, and the flood of November 1954 was the finishing blow destroying most of the paper mills.

The Paper museum of Amalfi houses engravings and printings, manuscripts, books, many historical bills.

The entire production cycle of the paper of Amalfi is illustrated, and you can admire restored, real and still working equipment: it’s more than a museum, it’s a real experience!

The museum also includes the water channel system and the water supply towers, the 13th century paper mill, the Sala dei Magistri in arte cartarum (Room of the Masters of the craft of paper ), the library.

To get the paper, there are several steps to follow.

Therefore, the refined paper of Amalfi is made out of cotton, linen and hemp rags mashed by the use of studded hammers until it becomes a pulp, then is placed in a kind of wooden fringed mould with the watermark in the middle, whit the paper producers symbol.

Using a press all the water is taken out of the pulp and then the sheets are hung to dry and then stretched.