The Pharmacy Museum in Krakow

The Krakow Pharmacy Museum, administered by the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University, was established in 1946 and is the largest museum of its kind in Poland, occupying all the floors of a historical house in the center of the city. The building hosts the pharmacy collection since 1991. The display is impressive, with numerous and varied types of artifacts, including a series of entire officinae from different periods and areas of Poland. The last pharmacy with furniture included in the display has ceased functioning in 2009. One must also note the great variety of materia medica, ranging from stuffed crocodiles and sea horses to chemical substances, vegetal matter and even a human skull. The basement reunites tools from historical pharmaceutical laboratories, while the attic recreates a herbarium, with numerous plants hung to dry. Though the display is classical and devoid of interaction or technology, the value of the collection is remarkable and the bilingual explanations are of very good quality.

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