Museo delle Arti Sanitarie e Farmacia degli Incurabili
Napoli (NA)
Hidden gemMuseums
The story
Surgical instruments that look like torture tools, the lazaretto ward, and the most beautiful eighteenth-century pharmacy in Europe: carved wood, majolica jars, and a poison jar with an inscription that chills you.
Access
Entrance at Via dei Tribunali 226. Every day 9:30-13:30, tours at 10/11/12. Tel. 081 440647. Price reported by third-party sources: € 10
The story
The complex of the Hospital of the Incurabili, founded in 1521 by Maria Longo, is one of the central places of the history of Neapolitan medicine. It holds the ancient Pharmacy of the Incurabili, an eighteenth-century apothecary with its majolica jars, considered among the most beautiful in Europe, and the Museum of the Health Arts, which tells of centuries of the history of care and medical science.
What to see
The spectacular eighteenth-century Pharmacy, with the wooden shelving and the collection of majolica and glass jars, a masterpiece of art as well as of the history of medicine; and the Museum of the Health Arts, with instruments and specimens that document the evolution of care. The museum also keeps anatomical preparations for the purpose of study: scientific and historical material, to be looked at with respect.
Tips
The hospital complex is in activity and the visits to the pharmacy and the museum have their own arrangements and hours, often by booking with a guided tour: check on the official channels before going. It is a place of the history of medicine, not a curiosity: it should be experienced with the right seriousness.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Museum of the Health Arts at the Incurabili?
The museum of the history of Neapolitan medicine, in the complex of the Hospital of the Incurabili (founded in 1521), with the famous eighteenth-century majolica Pharmacy and collections of scientific instruments and specimens.
What is the Pharmacy of the Incurabili?
An eighteenth-century apothecary with wooden shelving and majolica jars, considered among the most beautiful in Europe: a masterpiece of art and of the history of medicine.
How do you visit it?
With its own arrangements and hours, often by booking and with a guided tour, in a working hospital: check on the official channels.
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