The Orto Botanico, or Giardino dei Semplici, is a walled, square space in the city center recognizable by its grid of long, straight walkways and a central fountain. Established on December first, fifteen forty-five by Grand Duke Cosimo…
Monastic Pharmacies and Perfumes
This walk traces Florence’s ancient apothecary tradition, leading you through historic botanical gardens and centuries-old herbalist shops to the world's oldest operating pharmacy.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →Walk it in street view
1. Orto Botanico Giardino dei Semplici - Università di Firenze
2. Farmacia SS. Annunziata dal 1561 Firenze Italy
The Farmacia Santissima Annunziata is marked by a sign featuring the Annunciation above its entrance, a detail added when the establishment received its official name in eighteen seventy-six. Located in a fifteenth-century building on Via…
3. Antica Spezieria Erboristeria San Simone Firenze
The Antica Spezieria Erboristeria San Simone, located on Via Ghibellina, is marked by rows of glass bottles containing herbs and essences. This workshop, which traces its origins to the early eighteenth century, follows the long-standing…
4. Dott. A. Bizzarri
Dott. A. Bizzarri sits at number thirty-two R on Via della Condotta, a storefront that often catches passersby off guard with its resemblance to a different century. Founded in eighteen forty-two, this establishment functions as an ancient…
5. Spezierie Palazzo Vecchio
Spezierie Palazzo Vecchio sits within a structure dating to the thirteen hundreds, located in the shadow of the Palazzo Vecchio. Founded in the nineteen eighties by pharmacist Giovanni Di Massimo, the boutique bridges the gap between…
6. Antica Farmacia del Cinghiale
The Antica Farmacia del Cinghiale is identified by the white and green marble trim framing its entrance and shop windows in Piazza del Mercato Nuovo. It occupies the ground floor of the historic Palazzo dei Cavallereschi, a building that…
7. Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella occupies the site of a former Dominican convent founded in twelve twenty-one. It is recognized as the oldest pharmacy in the world, having evolved from a monastic infirmary where…