Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella

The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world, its origins date back to the XIII century. Dominican monks who lived at the monastery of Santa Maria Novella Church ran a small infirmary to care for sick monks and Florence's poor. They cultivated herbs and medicinal plants to make syrups, pills and balms for their patients. One of the first remedies was the rose water, used to disinfect environments during the plague and as a bland medicament. It officially opened as a shop in 1612, due to the ever-increasing demand for the medicinal balms. The alchemist Fra Angiolo Marchissi, the first director of the shop in via della Scala, invented new preparations and ran the business very efficiently so that, shortly afterwards, it was named Foundry of His Royal Highness by the then Grand Duke of Tuscany. 

Lots of perfumes and fragrances are still the same as they were produced for the Queen: the Eau de la Reine (Queen's Water) was invented by the monks upon the request of Florence's greatest ambassador, Catherine de’ Medici, who married King Henry II of France in 1533. She introduced this perfume (and many others) to the French court. Its fame soon spread throughout France. The shop was also renowned for herbal medicine: the monks used to grow plants and herbs with natural methods, without pesticides, and it is still the same today in the manufacturing plant in via R. Giuliani.

Visitors who make their way through the stone passageway leading inside the building find themselves in stunning frescoed rooms with marble floors, decorated with furniture dating back to XVIII century and with precious jars. Among them, the sales room was originally a chapel, now deconsecrated, dedicated to St. Nicholas, and its sacristy is decorated with frescoes depicting the Christ’s Passion.