Museum of Pharmacy
Jagiellonian University – Medical College
ul. Floriańska 25
31-019 Kraków
Tel. (12) 421 92 79 / (12) 422 42 84
mf1@mp.pl
www.muzeumfarmacji.uj.edu.pl
Admission charges, please see the museum website.
Tuesdays: 12 noon – 6.30 pm
Wednesdays – Saturdays: 9.30 am – 3 pm
All groups that are larger than ten must book in advance. Please call or contact the museum.
Director: Agnieszka Rzepiela PhD
Staff: Monika Urbanik PhD, Iwona Dymarczyk MA, Katarzyna Jaworska MA, Krzysztof Koniewicz MA, Piotr Trzos MA, Iwona Terkalska, Marta Dudek-Kmak, Kamila Janik, Marta Rączka, Stanisława Suchan
The Kraków Museum of Pharmacy is an entity within the Faculty ofPharmacy of the Medical College of the Jagiellonian University. It is the largest and oldest Museum of Pharmacy in Poland and one of the largest museums of its kind in the world. It was established at the District Chamber of Apothecaries in Kraków in 1946, on the initiative of Stanisław Proń, and was known as the Museum of Pharmacy of the Kraków Region. In 1961 it was incorporated into the Faculty of Pharmacy of the M. Kopernik Medical University in Kraków, which since 1933 has been a part of the Jagiellonian University functioning as the Medical College. Since 1991, the seat of the Museum has been a historic town house, located along the Royal Route in Kraków, which has retained many valuable features of its historic architecture (Gothic cellars, Renaissance and Baroque ceilings, and 19th-century frescoes). The museum’s collections have come from pharmacies throughout Poland, illustrating the history of pharmacy and apothecaries since the Middle Ages until modern times. There are pharmaceutical receptacles, including a valuable collection of maiolica from European manufactories, mortars of various shapes and sizes, laboratory equipment, and pharmaceutical utensils, medicinal matter, personal mementoes of renowned pharmacists, a philatelic collection related to the history of pharmacy, as well as many other curiosities related to ancient methods of healing. Furthermore, the museum has recreated the interior of an 18th-century monastic pharmacy, and some other interiors, such as an old pharmaceutical laboratory, a cellar with barrels and bottles for medicinal wines and an attic used for drying and storing medicinal herbs. There are also original pieces of furniture from 19thcentury pharmacies in the neo-Baroque, eclectic, Empire and Biedermeier styles. A part of the exhibition is devoted to the history of pharmacies in Kraków from times past and to Tadeusz Pankiewicz, an apothecary from Kraków who ran a pharmacy in the Kraków Ghetto and saved the lives of imprisoned Jews. The museum also has a library and archives in which there are old herbaria, official pharmacopoeias and other printed matter and archival materials related to the history of pharmacy. The permament exhibition is on display in 12 rooms, on five floors, starting from the cellars up to the attic. The average tour takes approx. 1.5 hours. The museum provides short text guides in 7 languages (Polish, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian) for self-guided tours and small groups. These can be found at the entrance to each room. A photocopied guide with more detailed descriptions can be purchased at the reception desk together with other publications of the museum as well as souvenirs bearing the logo of the Jagiellonian University’s Medical College.
Agnieszka Rzepiela PhD
