Learn Leatherwork in Florence (Santa Croce)

Honest level: Beginner -> Advanced — ask the school exactly how far that goes in the time you have.

Leather Bag Making Course (20-week long-term professional program)

Scuola del Cuoio's flagship long-term professional course, a full-time immersion in traditional Florentine leatherworking taught by two Master Artisans. Students start from the basics and progress through pattern making and the full construction process of handbags — clutches, saddle bags, totes, satchels and bucket bags — building a portfolio of finished pieces. No prior experience required; over 2,000 students from 40+ countries have completed the school's long-term programs.

Next sessions: 2026-02 · 2026-09

A multi-month, full-time, hands-on leatherworking program in Santa Croce, the historic heart of Florentine leather craft, taught by master artisans.

approx. EUR 11,500 tuition for the 20-week course

Why Scuola del Cuoio (Leather School of Florence) / SCHOLA Academy

• ★ 4.6/5 · 741 reviews on Google (via Wanderlog) ↗

— don't take my word, check it yourself

Founded in 1950 inside the Monastery of Santa Croce by the Gori and Casini families, it is the largest working leather laboratory in Florence, where students learn vegetable-tanned and gold-tooled leatherwork from resident artisans on-site and reviewers consistently praise the genuine hand-craftsmanship and the chance to watch makers at the bench.

Schools in Florence (Santa Croce)

Checked by hand against each school's own course pages. No school paid to be listed.

• Scuola del Cuoio (Leather School of Florence) / SCHOLA Academy
  Leather Bag Making Course (20-week long-term professional program)
  Scuola del Cuoio's flagship long-term professional course, a full-time immersion in traditional Florentine leatherworking taught by two Master Artisans.
  https://scuoladelcuoio.it/en/content/13-professional-courses-
• Scuola del Cuoio (Leather School of Florence)
  Long-Term Professional Course (10 or 20 weeks)
  A working leather school founded in 1950 inside the Santa Croce monastery complex in Florence, offering 10- and 20-week full-immersion professional courses where students work seven hours a day under master leather craftsmen on bag-making, pattern-making and construction.
  https://scuoladelcuoio.it/en/
• artisan botteghe of Santa Croce
  A reference to the traditional family-run leather workshops (botteghe) clustered in Florence's Santa Croce district, where artisans craft and sell leather goods and some offer informal hands-on apprenticeship-style training rather than a single formal school.

The credential

Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Diploma in Saddle, Harness & Bridle Making · Certifying body: Worshipful Company of Cordwainers / Society of Master Saddlers (UK guild diplomas)

A recognised qualification an outside body stands behind is not the same as a certificate a school prints itself. We name which it is — you should ask the school the same.

Also for Leatherwork

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

• The craft is actually alive there. A working scene, with people who do this every day — not a demo put on for visitors.
• There's a real teacher behind it. Named, still practising, and certified where the craft has certificates.
• The credential is what it claims to be. A state diploma and a certificate a school prints itself are not the same thing. I check which, and I say which.
• I tell you how sure I am. Most pages here are verified by hand. A few say "still checking" — I'd rather admit that than pretend.
• Nobody pays to be here. No commission, no selling the trip. The order on this map is the strength of the community, never the size of the wallet.
• If I wouldn't send a friend, it isn't on the map.