The historic pharmacies of Florence represent one of the characteristic aspects of the long and rich history of the Tuscan capital. The art of the apothecaries was in fact in ancient times one of the seven Florentine Major Arts, recognized as such since 1266. And the famous botanical garden Garden of Simple it is the third oldest in the world after those of Pisa and Padua, with its herbs, its history, its ancient tradition of medicinal plants. It had been created by the Medici in 1545, and between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it had a period of great splendor because here varieties of medicinal plants were finally cultivated and studied. But already about fifty years ago one of the first collections of medicine recipes was born in Florence. This is why the first pharmaceutical workshops were born here, and it is no coincidence that in Florence there is a real via degli apothecaries.
The perfume-pharmaceutical workshop of Santa Maria Novella and its museum
Between bottles and colored powders, precision scales and ancient transparent glass vases whose contents know and smell of the history of medicine and pharmacy, let's go to the discovery of the oldest and most characteristic historical pharmacies in Florence. Starting withperfume-pharmaceutical workshop of Santa Maria Novella, in via della Scala, the oldest pharmacy in Europe. It's about a a real pharmacy-museum, an old apothecary that celebrated its eight centuries in 2021. It was in fact November 11, 1221 when the Dominican friars (a religious order particularly dedicated to the care of the sick) arrived here from Bologna and in a small piece of land, outside the city walls, they began to cultivate plants and produce medicines for their convent. . The Dominicans produced rose water as a disinfectant as early as 1381. However, over 200 years had to pass, and we are therefore at the beginning of the seventeenth century, for a friar - a good connoisseur of spices and aromas - to think of making this art a trade, selling medicines, perfumes, elixirs to Florentines and those passing through Florence. , ointments, balms.
This trade, despite the suppression of the convent in the nineteenth century, did not stop. The activity still takes place in the ancient monumental spaces, rich in precious furnishings and decorations that date back to various eras. Today it is no longer a pharmacy but a perfumery-herbalist shop and a museum. Preserves an important collection of scientific material in addition to the fascinating apothecary jars. Some date back to the seventeenth century. Among ceramic pots, stills, scales, mortars, measuring cups, the visit to the Santa Maria Novella workshop is a journey backwards to discover the tools used in ancient times to synthesize perfumes and medicines.
The pharmacy of the inventor of talcum powder
Historical and fascinating is also the English Pharmacy Perfumeryin Via Tornabuoni. It dates back to the nineteenth century and was founded by the inventor of talcum powder, created in Florence by the English pharmacist Henry Roberts.. Luxurious and refined, this pharmacy immediately distinguished itself not only for the novelty of talcum powder, but also for the prestigious perfumes and liqueurs that could already be found at the time. After so many years, the spaces are still beautiful. Alabaster chandeliers, mahogany wood panels make it a place of great charm even today. The Municipality of Florence has included it among the 57 historical establishments of the city.
Neo-Gothic furnishings distinguish the pharmacy of Canto alle Rondini. It stands where Matteo Palmieri's ancient apothecary was located, which in his years, we are in the fifteenth century, despite being a humanist and politician, before giving himself to public life he exercised the paternal art of the apothecary. The curious name "Canto alle Rondini" derives from the fact that in this area there was a corner building with three silver swallows on the coat of arms. The history of the Santissima Annunziata pharmacy is also very old, apothecary since 1561. The origin in this case is also monastic, the old apothecary was based in a building owned by the nuns of San Niccolò. It became a pharmacy in 1876 and preserves precious furnishings dating back to the seventeenth century. Florence, city of history, culture, arts, crafts and pharmacies. Among the most beautiful and the oldest.
(ph credit image in evidence: page fb Perfume-pharmaceutical workshop of Santa Maria Novella)
