The Pharmacy of the Past

You’re now at 8 Via del Lastrone. This small street was once home to many shops dealing in plants, spices, and remedies, in a city known for its strong pharmaceutical tradition since the Middle Ages. Take a look on your right, have you noticed the two small blue ceramic plaques?

They’re not here by chance, they’re genuine historic shop signs. One shows a mortar and pestle, the other a cup with a serpent, both classic symbols of pharmacy. Their presence on the same building tells a story: this was most likely once a spezieria, a typical Tuscan shop somewhere between a pharmacy, an herbalist, and a delicatessen.

Today, these plaques are among the last visible traces of that artisanal past, from a time when trades were advertised directly on the walls using symbols that everyone could easily recognize.