The Scents of Time: Visiting Florence’s Historic Pharmacy 

Mia Boykin

February 28, 2025 —The scent might hit you before anything else – a mix of fresh herbs, aged wood, and something floral yet familiar. When you step inside the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, it feels less like a store and more like a portal to another time. The ornate ceilings and gold detailing almost keep it stuck in the 13th century, telling the story of a pharmacy that has outlasted empires. For the students at Villa Le Balze this semester, a visit here isn’t just a history lesson – it’s a chance to step into a different era.

Tucked away in the heart of Florence, the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella sits in its historical glory. It’s not just a pharmacy like the CVS on M Street, but it’s a time capsule of herbal alchemy, Florentine history, and the importance of historical conservation. The origins of the pharmacy date back to the mid-13th century, when the Church of Santa Maria Novella was founded by Dominican friars. At the time, it was common for monasteries to have private gardens for medicinal purposes. When walking through, visitors’ noses are filled with sweet, natural scents as murals decorate the walls.

“There’s a lot of very beautiful mosaics on the wall, the ceilings are painted, a lot of gold detailing, very intricate. It felt very churchy, I would say. And obviously, it just smelled really good,” said Lilit Keshishian (CAS ‘26) about when she first entered the Officina.

Paul Pennacchia, a Villa Le Balze Academics and Activities Officer, emphasized the importance of students experiencing the Officina because of its position as a place frozen in time for the student to experience. “Visiting the store is like stepping into a sensory wonderland,” he said, going on to add that the Officina is a unique experience for the students that only Florence can truly offer. Programming for the Villa typically centers around going into Florence and interacting with the community; encouraging an immersive approach to learning.

Learning about a building from a book is one thing, but seeing, smelling, and experiencing a historical site brings a whole new experience to one’s understanding. The coordinators at the Villa make it a priority to make sure students don’t just learn about Florence in the classroom but also experience it in a more hands-on environment.

“I think it’s easy to get into the pattern of staying in The Social Hub and then going to classes in Fiesole, but creating programs or specific times within your day to go and really connect with Florence, in particular, has been really, really beneficial for me,” Keshishian said.

The gardens of the church would end up being the hub for early medicinal practices through herbal remedies, by the 14th century, the Officina was a secluded apothecary crafting medicinal remedies from their herbs. At the height of the Black Plague, the friars treated patients with distilled rose water and what started as a small-scale medicinal experiment became an essential public resource for the people of Florence.

Over time, the Officina’s influence expanded beyond medicine. In 1533, when Caterina de’ Medici left for France to marry the future king, she commissioned the friars to create a signature fragrance capturing her beloved Florence as a gift for her future husband. The result – Acqua della Regina (The Queen’s Water) – became one of the first modern perfumes and is still sold today. Keshishian was lucky enough to grab the historic scent for her trip back to the Hilltop. 

Students had the chance to learn about the historical influence of Officina, which was specific to the medicinal context of the time. “I thought the concept of pharmacy and perfumery being together was really interesting. How I envisioned it was like the Black Plague mask, and they would put herbs and other smells into the mask, and thought that was the way of stopping the spread of a lot of diseases. So I guess I’d never really thought about the combination between perfumery and pharmacy, but looking at it from the historical context, it makes sense,” Keshishian said, studying government and business, she is no stranger to the intersection of history, art, culture, and the market.

In addition to the building itself, Villa students were also lucky enough to receive a guided tour from specialists at the Officina, giving them an inside look at the history of perfumery and how perfume is created.

“It’s very interesting that people who are professionals of perfume and finding your scent also have to have knowledge of the history of Florence which is a weird combination,” she said, “But it also makes a lot of sense and I think it makes a lot of their products a lot more special, especially because there are fragrances that are more historic and significant.”

The Officina as we know it today wasn’t officially founded until 1612, when Fra’ Angiolo Marchissi began managing the operation, and quickly the Officina became known for the quality of its products. The Officina sold just about everything – perfumes, toiletries, medicinal balms, liqueurs, fresh herbs, and general goods for the Florentine community. This constant movement of goods meant that cultural diffusion was most likely happening as well, placing the Officina as a cornerstone of Florentine cultural growth. The church continued owning the perfumery until 1866 when the Kingdom of Italy took over and sold it to a private owner after the Third Italian War of Independence.

Now in 2024, the Officina is still a landmark. While the production today is more high-tech, a dedication to natural ingredients and the tradition of cultivation lives on. As it turns out, nurturing herbs for medicinal practices was so common in medieval Florence, that Villa students have visited two different sites in the heart of Florence. Just last semester, students visited the Orto Botanico, where medicinal plants were harvested and sold to Florentine citizens. For some like Lilit, excursions like the Officina are touchstones of her semester in Italy. 

“It’s important for the bonding between people who are at the Villa, it’s really fun to go and try out new things with these people you just met. I’ve really enjoyed that and I felt it brought me a lot closer to people I didn’t know before coming abroad. I think that’s unique about the Villa’s campus.”