One of the oldest pharmacies in Europe
The Old Pharmacy in Franciscan Monastery in Dubrovnik is one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe. Founded in 1317 as an in-house pharmacy for Franciscan friars was later introduced to the public servicing the whole town’s population and beyond the town’s walls.
Tickets to the Old Pharmacy
Tickets to the Old Pharmacy can be purchased directly at the Old Pharmacy.
The price is 40 kn (about 5.40 €).
Open from 9 am to 6 pm.
For more information visit their site – link.
The pharmacy was quite famous in the old days, holding more than 2000 recipes, everything from common drugs to secret poisons and potions.
The historical facts about the pharmacy from its establishment to the earthquake in 1667 have been burnt along with the archive and the library. The chronicler friar Vital Andrijašević wrote that the ground floor of the monastery was a pharmacy and aromatory up to 1681.
Read also: Lovrijenac Fort
In the beginning, it was just a monastery pharmacy to help the sick friars; later the pharmacy became a public one mainly for humanitarian and charitable reasons.
The Friars Minor pharmacy has been in the health care business since 1317 when the monastery was established after being shifted inside the city walls from the Pile area. Friars, it turns out, were the original pharmacists, a skill borne of their desire to take care of their sick brothers and the wider community.
The pharmacy was quite famous in the old days, holding more than 2000 recipes, everything from ordinary drugs to secret poisons and potions.
The pharmacy was taken away from the friars and nationalized in 1947.
The pharmacy has a collection of very valuable books on medicine, pharmacology, and thousands of recipes, of which only a few have been exhibited as part of the pharmacy’s inventory which dates back to the 15th century.
Interestingly, the pharmacy was not always located on the ground floor but moved a little around the premises over the years.
Note that there is an actual pharmacy located on the premises, fully functioning and using some of the old recipes until today. They say you should buy skincare products in the pharmacy; they are the best of the best here.