Ordine Secolare Carmelitani Scalzi
Antica Farmacia di Santa Maria della Scala

LA RECENSIONE

Beyond the countless tourist-cultural tours one can take in Rome, the eternal city harbors some lesser-known spots like the most ancient pharmacy in Rome.

Located in Trastevere near the church of Santa Maria della Scala, it was built at the end of the 1500s along with the convent of the Carmelite Order and initially served for the preparation of medicinal herbs grown in the convent's internal garden.

Later, it opened to the public and became so famous that in the 1600s it earned the nickname Pharmacy of the Popes.

You can visit it by reservation, and a Discalced Carmelite will guide you through the various rooms where time seems to have stopped in the 1700s.

After passing through a long corridor, you enter the main sales room where everything has remained unchanged, including furnishings, and a multitude of glass bottles and containers holding the original preparations of the era, distillation towers, mortars... the dim and subdued light, the paintings, the scales, and the countless potions in vitro... everything contributes to giving a magical and fascinating touch....

The Carmelite will show you the various medications used at the time such as l'Acqua Antipestilenziale which was used for everything from dental abscesses to curing hemorrhoids or even as an ineffective remedy for the plague and various infectious diseases, the famous Theriaca, a black concoction invented by Nero's physician with miraculous virtues that the Carmelite invites you to sniff and, at the tourist's own risk, to taste..... I tasted it, it's good and tastes like licorice.

The adjoining room houses large sandalwood cabinets (this wood was used because it's moth-resistant) containing all the herbs and substances needed for the preparation of medicines, including marijuana called erba fumar.

The visit lasts about 40 minutes at a cost of 5 euros. If you want to take a journey through time and see fascinating places that have remained intact for centuries, you won't regret it!