Officina Profumo Santa Maria Novella

The oldest pharmacy in Europe and one of the oldest shops in the whole world. One of the least frequented but most historic and fascinating places in Florence: the Officina Profumo Santa Maria Novella.
Via della Scala, 16, very close to the central railway station and the convent of Santa Maria Novella. From the outside, you are immediately captivated by a thrilling scent spreading in the air.
 
You’re exactly in the place where the tradition of perfumers was born.
Caterina de’ Medici, wife of the King of France Henry II, brought a perfume to the court of Versailles, created just for her, with the name “Queen’s Water”. At that time perfumes were not very widespread in France, while the Medici, in Florence, were already making extensive use of it.

Besides legends, we are here to enter a magical wormhole.
More than Diagon Alley.
The history of the place you are about to enter begins in 1221, the year of the foundation of the Convent of Santa Maria Novella. The friars began their activity with a “hortus conclusus“, cultivating medicinal herbs, called “semplici“.
 
You will enter the Officina Profumo Santa Maria Novella from a portal made in pietra serena, in which is sculpted a flaming sun, the symbol of the Dominicans.
The first room you enter is the sales room, originally a convent’s chapel, then renovated in 1848 to accommodate the growing number of customers. The frescoes that adorn the walls represent the four continents, as a metaphor of the expansion towards China, India and Russia.

On the right there’s the Green Room, where the most important people were received with a glass of  Alchermes (the original recipe, written by Fra ‘Cosimo Bucelli, in 1743), of China (once considered a portentous elixir) or a cup of Chocolate.
Next to it there is the Sacristy, later called “Sala delle Acque“, since it was used as a scent lab. Here the frescoes by Mariotto di Nardo, that (around 1400) have been restored to their original colors.
 
Throughout the pharmacy, scientific instruments and containers dating back to between 1600 and 1900 are exhibited, everywhere you can breathe the deep blend between past and present. There’s a museum where, with the terracotta vases of Montelupo, you can admire an example of a “Florentine bottle“, probably invented by Leonardo da Vinci, which was used to separate water from essential oils.

The incredible thing is that here you can freely interact with preparations from past times. So… experiment! Live your experience with the help of the very kind and well-prepared clerks. How about the Orange blossom water (scented and tonic), the Rose water (traditional product) or even the Acqua Antisterica, also called Water of Santa Maria Novella, a particular blend of principles essentials of selected aromatic plants such as balsamite, mint and Ceylon cinnamon?

“Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.” (Patrick Suskind, Das Parfüm).