AiF Health No. 3. What and when to check after “omicron” 01/02/2022
Today pharmacies are not much different from ordinary shops, and before they resembled miracle shops. Wooden cabinets filled with colorful cones and bubbles, unusual smells. How many secrets and stories old pharmacies keep.
The first pharmacy in Russia was opened at Ivan the Terrible, in 1581, medicines for the royal pharmacy were delivered from England. The most popular medicines were: opium, camphor, citrus seed (wormwood seeds), saffron, Alexandrian leaf (senna). The following two official pharmacies appeared only with Petre I. «Free» (private) pharmacy John Gregorius There is also a state pharmacy of the Lefortovo Hospital in the German settlement. None of them survived. But there are several pharmacies in Russia that have survived centuries.
Old pharmacy (Vladimir)
This is the first state pharmacy in the Vladimir province. It was opened on September 15, 1805 in the wing of the Governor’s House of the XVIII century. Before that, there was only one private pharmacy in Vladimir in the Theotokos-the Nativity Monastery. Opened a pharmacy by the decree of the governor, Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Dolgoruky. A year before that, his wife Evgenia died of consumption. There is a legend that this event was one of the reasons for opening a pharmacy in the city.
For more than 200 years, the pharmacy has performed its functions flawlessly. On the ground floor there was a trading hall and a warehouse, on the second floor there were living rooms of the pharmacist’s family.
Already in the 1980s. XX. the building, as well as the entire Georgievskaya Street, on which it stands, has been restored. In 2017 the museum «Old Pharmacy» opened here, where the unique atmosphere of the pharmaceutical shop XIX reigns.
Ferreina Pharmacy (Moscow)
Ferreina Pharmacy. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
It traces its history back to the times of Peter the Great. It was opened “during the execution of the royal decree” by the Pole Daniil Gurchin. It repeatedly changed its owners, until in 1823 the pharmacy was bought out by a German pharmacist Karl Ivanovich Ferrein. He conducted his business very successfully, the number of visitors grew rapidly. And in 1862 Karl Ivanovich acquired the house of the merchant K. K. Schilbach on Nikolskaya Street. From this day, the Ferreina pharmacy begins its work in Moscow at the usual address. After 10 years, Ferrein’s son, Vladimir Karlovich, rented a neighboring building. The family business has grown greatly. The company «Ferrain &Co.» produced more than 300 names of medicines, perfumes, fortified wineswith medicinal additives. A also gave practical classes for pharmacists, took tests, embalmed. We needed premises for a laboratory, stables, warehouses, a small outpatient clinic. At the end of the XIX century, a new four-storey (!) pharmacy building in the neo-Renaissance style was built on the site of the old one according to the project of A. E. Erichson. On the facade there are 4 statues of the goddess Gigia feeding a snake from a bowl, and the coat of arms of the Ferreins. The building has survived almost unchanged to the present day, although the pharmacy itself was destroyed during the anti-German riots in 1915. After the revolution, the pharmacy was nationalized and renamed Central No. 1. Now there is a restaurant and a shop in the historic pharmacy building. Unfortunately, there was not even room for a small museum in the magnificent interiors.
Dr. Pelya’s Pharmacy (Saint Petersburg)
Dr. Pelya’s pharmacy. Photo: Museum “Pharmacy of Dr. Pel”.
This pharmacy in the historical center of Vasilievsky Island is more than 300 years old. From 1710 to now it is an operating pharmacy. The property of Wilhelm Pel she moved to 1858 g. Pel was a graduate of the medical and surgical academy, but there were legends in the city that he was not just a pharmacist, but an alchemist, a magician, like Count Cagliostro, the locals were sure that alchemy was being practiced in the cellars of the pharmacy.
Pelya’s pharmacy business was continued by his son, and then by his grandchildren. They are led byBy Alexander Vasilyevich Pele it was possible to create a huge enterprise, including laboratories, an organotherapy institute, pharmaceutical factories, libraries, warehouses, sales offices. More than 70 people worked in the pharmacy alone.
In 1910, the building was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style. In 1914, a charity hospital was located in the pharmacy. The pharmacy continued to operate under Soviet rule. In 1918. it became known as the St. Andrew’s Pharmacy, then the 97th Communal pharmacy, later the pharmacy of Lieutenant Schmidt. Today it is the Pharmacy of Dr. Pele, inside there is a museum telling about the activities of the Pele dynasty and the pharmacy business.
Baiger Pharmacy (Stavropol)
Baiger’s pharmacy. Photo: Stavropol City Administration.
The luxurious Art Nouveau building (architect A. P. Bulygin) was designed by order of Israel Abramovich Peisakhovich a well-known pharmacist in the city, who bought a merchant’s estate on Nikolaevsky Prospekt (now Karl Marx Avenue) and decided to rebuild it to create his own pharmacy. The pharmacy, equipped with the latest pharmacology of the time, opened in 1912. Preparations from local raw materials and patented products from Europe were prepared and sold here.
But the pharmacy became famous already at Ioannot Henrikhovich Baiger, who rented it from the owner. His name remained in the name of the pharmacy.
After the revolution, the headquarters of the Red Guard was located here, where interrogations were conducted and the enemies of the revolution were tortured. In Soviet times, the store “Hygiene and sanitation” worked. Today, the building has a functioning pharmacy and a small museum.
By the way!
The oldest operating pharmacy in Europe is located in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Town Hall pharmacy was opened in 1442, and according to some sources in 1415. Next to the modern pharmacy there is a small museum with historical medical documents and antique pharmacy instruments.
