Franciscan Monastery Museum and Old Pharmacy

The Franciscan Monastery Museum and Old Pharmacy occupies part of the monastery complex at Placa 2, just inside Pile Gate on the Stradun in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The Franciscans moved inside the city walls in the 14th century, and the museum presents the collections that the community has gathered over some seven centuries. Its centrepiece is the pharmacy, founded in 1317 and among the oldest continuously operating in Europe. The museum displays apothecary jars, glass vessels, bronze and marble mortars, scales, surgical instruments, and handwritten prescription and account books, together with a reconstruction of the dispensing room. Visitors also see the cloister, built in the 1360s by Mihoje Brajkov of Bar, with paired columns, carved capitals and a central garden. The treasury contains reliquaries, chalices and liturgical silver, and the library holds around 20,000 volumes, including incunabula, manuscripts and choir books. The earthquake of 1667 destroyed the church interior but spared the cloister and pharmacy, and the 1991 bombardment of Dubrovnik caused further damage to the roof, which has been repaired. The museum is thematic, organised by collection rather than strictly by date, and the visit follows a route through the cloister, pharmacy displays and sacred art. Labels are in Croatian and English. Since the pharmacy still dispenses medicines and cosmetic products, the visit feels like a live institution as well as an exhibit. The Old Pharmacy shop is open to the public for purchases, whilst the museum and cloister require a ticket. A visit is easily combined with the walls from Pile Gate, only a few steps away.