Established in 1222, the original Santa Maria Novella pharmacy and perfumery in Florence is a monument to scents. Lotions, fragrances and other exquisite sundries are spread out through a series of ornate rooms that once served as chapels or sacristies. Against a dramatic backdrop of vaulted ceilings and frescoes on the wall, glass-fronted cabinets display vintage rose water tonics, pomegranate-scented perfumes, and antique books on the art of alchemy.

Like many of the medieval buildings in Tallin’s old town, The Raeapteek, an atmospheric, 15th-century pharmacy and small museum in the city’s center, appears to be frozen in time. A long antique glass counter displays mouth-warming tonics made from spiced claret, black currant stomach tinctures, Swedish bitters and other concoctions that the shop has been peddling for centuries. The apothecary’s famous Raeapteek marzipan is billed as a cure for ye olde broken heart.

Discalced Carmelites, or "shoeless" monks, started this Roman apothecary in the 16th century after creating elixirs from their own herb gardens. Their potions, such as acqua anti-pestilenziale, or anti-plague water, were so divine that the shop soon became known as the “Pharmacy of Popes.” Today, its marble-floored rooms house a small museum upstairs and a drugstore staffed by pharmacists still knowledgeable in the remedies of Baroque Rome.

Since 1939, C.O. Bigelow in Manhattan's Greenwich Village has counted Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt, and members of the New York Dolls as patrons. Bigelow loyalists know that once you set foot in the shop, you must give in to the packed oak shelves overflowing with highbrow pharmaceutical finds: Marvis toothpaste, Fornasetti candles, and Augustinus Bader’s creams. But the cult favorites are the in-house formulations, whipped up from centuries-old recipes from the store's archives.

Throughout the 1800s, L’Officine Universelle Buly was a tonic trendsetter that was decorated with awards for its vinegar-based remedies. Today, the three Parisian outposts share the founder’s old-world aesthetic (walnut cabinetry, antique fixtures) but with a modern sense of luxury: elixirs, powders, soaps, and handcrafted boxwood hair combs from Northern Japan. offers customized monogrammed packaging done by an in-house calligrapher, to emboss lip balm containers or packages of floral powders.

Franciscan monks initially opened this Dubrovnik pharmacy in their monastery complex in the early 1300s to treat their sick brothers. Before long, people flocked to the Franciscans for their healing remedies prepared in mortars and pestles, stored in porcelain vessels and recorded in pharmaceutical books — all of which remain on display. Wander the cloisters, monastery and plant-filled courtyard before swinging by the pharmacy to pick up its array of skin cream products made from wild herbs.

Claus Porto brand of soaps, perfumes and shaving creams was launched in 1887 by a pair of German businessmen who fell in love with the country’s aromatic landscapes. The line’s signature packaging features patterns based on Portugal’s colorful azulejo tilework. Housed in a three-story townhouse, the flagship boutique in Porto offers a marble washbasin for customers to test out hand washes and a barber chair in front of a mirrored wall can be curtained off for a private shave.

Compared to many of the world’s ancient remedy shops, this Yorkshire pharmacy is new to the scene, having only been around since the 1980s. Formerly a chemist’s shop where the Brontë sisters frequented, the mother-and-daughter duo, Patricia and Caroline Rose, have reinvented the space with an eclectic spread of candles, creams and potions, all made on site. Bath soaks, including a mustard powder infused with essential oils, are inspired by Victorian remedies for colds.

The sixth-generation pharmacist Alexander Ehrmann has worked with his father for years to master plant-based wellness and aromatherapy treatments. Located in Vienna's Mariahilf district, the minimalist-designed pharmacy stocks over 400 different proprietary formulations that draw on locally-harvested ingredients, such as linseed-oil tinctures, housemade probiotic supplements and unscented deodorant creams displayed on marble pillars.