Officina Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella

I mentioned in an earlier post that my mother and I headed over to the pharmacy in Santa Maria Novella. For the sake of typos and time, I will just refer to it as the pharamacy. Located next to the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, it is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. Dominican friars founded in in the early 13th century and worked as herbalists for medicinal purposes and during this time they developed various balms and pomades for the monastery's infirmary. The perfumes and extracts can all be tested for scent and the pharmacist that helped us was so adorable. She was very funny and told me little tidbits about some of the products. For example, the "Acqua di Santa Maria Novella" was initially used to controlling hysterics. Others were used for their calming properties or used as astringents and moisturizers.

(Apologies in advance for the poor quality of the photos. I forgot to set my camera properly... I get distracted when shopping!)


The entry ceiling. It was a starry, midnight blue.


A fragrance cabinet.

It was no surprise that I ended up purchasing the perfume called "Angels of Florence". It has notes of vanilla, bergmot, gardenia and rose and those are my favorites. The fragrance is relatively new and was made to benefit the charity "Adopt-a-Book" to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the flood that destroyed so many books in Biblioteca Nazionale in 1966. The other extracts were incredible and there was something for everyone. The history of the building was an enthralling tale as well and it's very, very gorgeous.






The main counter where you may test fragrances.

If you are ever in Florence, I definitely think you should visit this place if you are in the Santa Maria Novella neighborhood. The church is most definitely worth a visit, but I have noticed that this part of Florence is overlooked by many. Perhaps this is the unfortunate location (it is near the train station), but definitely make a stop and make a purchase that is truly Florentine and unique. We also bought some of the soaps, candles and extracts. I am my mothers daughter... I learned from her and have inherited an appreciation for all things scented and feminine. *smiles*


The herbalist counter area.

Directly across the street from the pharmacy is a famed little chocolate shop called Dolceforte. It's worth a visit as well. The store offers chocolate and other sweet delicacies as well as pasta and olive oils from Tuscany.

The flower candies in the little photo are from Dolceforte. Italians usually have these are weddings and other memorable celebrations.

I just looked up the pharmacy on The Florentine and here is an article with photos. Clearly, they set their camera to the proper function. *shakes head in shame* Sorry.. I failed.

TheFlorentineArticle

Kisses,

Brooke