Enchanting Destinations: Timeless Pharmacies, Baroque Apothecaries, Mystical Unicorns, and Enigmatic Herbs

Old pharmacies are more than just aesthetically pleasing spaces; they are small cabinets of wonders. In these places, herbs were dried, ointments were made, powders were ground, and exotic substances were kept. The term ‘drugs’ once referred to medicinal raw materials sourced from plants, animals, and minerals. Explore Kudy z nudy to find old pharmacies in Klatovy, Kuks, Brno, Letovice, Uherské Hradiště, Zlatá Koruna, Třeboň, and Hradec Králové—essentially, locations where pharmacies have a surprisingly magical feel.

The ‘U Bílého jednorožce’ Pharmacy in Klatovy

The historic Baroque pharmacy known as ‘U Bílého jednorožce’ located in Klatovy’s square has a name that evokes mythical imagery; the horn of a unicorn has been a marketing feature for this pharmacy for centuries. However, there’s a catch: the so-called unicorn’s horn visible in the main area is not from a mythical animal but from a narwhal, a whale that lives in Arctic waters. In the 17th century, for the people of Klatovy, it was as if it truly belonged to a unicorn. The Jesuit Baroque pharmacy has been operational since 1639, and it’s remarkable that it has remained nearly unchanged until 1966, when it was designated as a protected heritage site.

Currently, it is maintained by the Klatovy Local History Museum and is generally open daily, excluding Mondays, during the tourist season. A guided tour will take you through the well-preserved complete furnishings of the former apothecary, along with additional items from historic pharmacies in Plasy, Plánice, and Sušice. You’ll find items like an oven for drying herbs, scales, a mixing and grinding machine, containers for leeches, and other fascinating tools from the era. Also on display is the legendary unicorn’s horn—known as the ‘tooth’—which is actually the elongated left canine tooth from a narwhal’s jaw. Originally, it hung above the entrance, proudly facing the square while serving to guard the apothecary’s workbench alongside a wooden Archangel Gabriel wielding a sword; this figure symbolizes protection from evil and disease.

Other Jesuit pharmacies

The Jesuits did not just establish churches; as early as the 16th century, they included apothecaries in their institutions in Prague, Olomouc, Brno, and Jindřichův Hradec. By the 17th century, they had set up pharmacies in towns like Kroměříž, Telč, and Opava, and in the following century, they did the same in Znojmo and Jihlava. The pharmacy in Klatovy originated alongside others in Březnice, Chomutov, Jičín, Kutná Hora, Litoměřice, and Hradec Králové.

Baroque interiors of Jesuit pharmacies can also be found at the museum in Český Krumlov and at the ‘U Zlaté koruny’ pharmacy in Uherské Hradiště, which has been serving its original purpose for nearly four centuries.

Monastic Baroque pharmacies: Brno, Kuks and Letovice

Places like the Cistercian monasteries in Vyšší Brod and Velehrad, the Premonstratensian monastery at Teplá, and the St Elizabeth’s convent in Předklášteří near Tišnov, as well as Brno, also housed pharmacies.

At the Brno City Museum housed at Špilberk Castle, you can once again see the original late Baroque furnishings of the Sisters of St Elizabeth’s pharmacy. This includes glass, faience, wooden and tin containers, a weighing pan, a dispensing table for final preparations of medicines, and hundreds of additional items.

The museum where the pharmacy used to operate is now located in what serves as the ticket office in the castle’s small courtyard. Starting in 2024, this pharmacy will be featured in the ‘Brno at Špilberk’ exhibition, which will provide it with a fitting and climate-controlled environment.

Pharmacies were also established in hospitals run by the charitable Order of the Brothers of Mercy. Thanks to their humanitarian focus, these pharmacies survived the Josephine reforms and continue to operate today in cities like Prague, Letovice, Brno, Prostějov, and Vizovice. A notable example is the Baroque pharmacy in Kuks, which is now part of the exhibition at the Czech Pharmaceutical Museum.

You can visit the beautifully restored Baroque pharmacy at the Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy in Letovice, located within the monastery grounds. This pharmacy announces regular guided tour dates in the spring. Another Baroque pharmacy from the Monastery of the Brothers of Mercy has been relocated to the Municipal Museum in Nové Město nad Metují. It operated from 1750 until about the mid-20th century, and its wooden medicine jars are marked with a pomegranate emblem that signifies the order.

You can find other historic pharmacies in museums

If you’re wandering in Jindřichův Hradec, stop by the Jindřichohradecko Museum to see the ‘U Panny Marie Pomocné’ pharmacy. This pharmacy existed in one of the buildings on the main square since the 17th century; though it has a Classicist design, the preserved pharmacy furniture actually dates back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Notably, the drawers feature Latin inscriptions as well as delightful landscape paintings.

In Polná, within the Vysočina region, visit the Town Museum located at the castle and chateau, where a tour focused on traditional crafts will lead you to the lapidarium in the castle cellars, showcasing the Baroque pharmacy ‘U Černého orla’ and a merchant’s shop. The newest historic pharmacy can be found at the Town Museum in Žamberk: this Neo-Gothic pharmacy was created in the 1890s by a Viennese firm for the local chemist Eduard Erxlében.

The Třeboň Castle Pharmacy: when history becomes an experience

The Castle Pharmacy in Třeboň is neither a typical pharmacy nor a conventional museum. Located in a historic building from 1608, this pharmacy offers guided tours, a café, a bookshop, exhibitions, souvenirs, and a year-round program. The history of the pharmacy comes alive mainly through the guided tours with the lady pharmacist, which recount stories about how old pharmacies operated, the illnesses people faced, and explain why the location is called The Castle Pharmacy.

The Museum of the Czech Pharmacy ‘U Zlatého lva’ in Hradec Králové

The Museum of the Czech Pharmacy, which features the ‘U Zlatého lva’ café in Hradec Králové, is a more modern yet equally charming continuation of traditional apothecaries. Established in a former pharmacy, it displays the evolution of pharmacies over the years, including aspects like medicine packaging, tools, equipment, and the pharmacy dispensing counter. This could be a quick stop to consider as you plan your journey before heading to the larger pharmaceutical museum in Kuks.

The Czech Pharmaceutical Museum in Kuks

If you have a passion for pharmacy and the art of medicine manufacturing, the Czech Pharmaceutical Museum in Kuks will offer you far more than just an exhibition dedicated to the history of pharmacy. Here, you’ll find the original pharmacy from the Monastery of the Brothers of Mercy that dates back to 1743, along with furnishings from the Dittrich Pharmacy located on Nerudova Street in Prague (1821) and the functionalist furnishings of the New Pharmacy in Beroun (1937). Most notably, there is an exhibition about medicine production, called ‘From the Apothecary’s Shop to the Factory’. This unique display in the Czech Republic charts the processes involved in creating medicines from the days of ancient apothecaries to modern mass pharmaceutical manufacturing. Visitors can also try hands-on experiences, such as preparing medicines in mortar and pestle bowls or crafting pills by hand.

The charm of old pharmacies

• • Czech pharmacy has an extensive history, but you won’t find pharmacies older than those from the Baroque period in this country. The earliest ones were situated in monasteries and were destroyed during the Hussite Revolution and subsequent wars, with the Thirty Years’ War also dealing a severe blow.

• • In 1516, Štěpán Šlik founded the town of Jáchymov; two years later, the Svornost mine—which would eventually become the world’s first uranium mine—opened, and just two years later, the first modern pharmacy in the Czech lands and all of Central Europe was established.

• • These Jesuit pharmacies didn’t just offer cures like wolf’s liver and viper’s spines; these whimsical remedies now mostly serve to entertain visitors. They also produced and sold items like ‘Jesuit powder’ or pulvis corticis chinae, made from the bark of the cinchona tree, and ‘Jesuit tea’, containing leaves from chickweed. Both of these ingredients were imported from the Americas by the Jesuit order.

Not just Baroque: pharmacies that are still going strong

Not every historic pharmacy has become a museum. On Malostranské náměstí in Prague, you can find the Fragner Pharmacy ‘U Černého orla’, which boasts a long tradition in the pharmacy industry. Meanwhile, Adam’s Pharmacy located on Wenceslas Square showcases the elegant architectural style of early 20th century Prague, along with its preserved shelves and original features. While it may not fall within the Baroque style, it certainly belongs among charming old pharmacies.