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| Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy |
My friend Allison recently wrote about her new favorite fragrance called "Santa Maria Novella" on her Web site, Cirque du Sweet. She references that the fragrance's name comes from the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, and the adjoining former monastery that is now a gorgeous farmacia.
It made me think about being in Florence and stopping by the pharmacy on a few different occasions. I had heard about this supposedly stunning pharmacy from several people in Florence - mostly tourists who had read about it in guidebooks - but for a year had failed to go. Finally I put in on my radar and stopped by.
Farmacia Santa Maria Novella is located at Via della Scala 16, just a few doors down from the basilica that faces away from the city's main train station of the same name (Firenze Santa Maria Novella). There probably aren't many pharmacies in the world that can claim a 400-year history, but this one can. And when you walk in the doors, you believe it.
While the "pharmacy" isn't exactly the place you would take to fill your prescription, it does have all sorts of fragrances, herbs and ancient concoctions that will undoubtedly raise your spirits in no time. As you walk through the various rooms, you feel that you are visiting the town's old apothecary and that Catherine de Medici herself might stroll past you on her way to the bath salts section. Even the "menu" they give you (available in several different languages) is printed on scroll-size parchment and I suspect they were delivered fresh from the local type-smith by pigeon that morning.
Thanks for the mention. I learned so much more about Santa Maria Novella from your post. The stores here in the US actually give you that same scroll with all of their product information too!
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