Several Parisian museums are vying for the title of the capital's most hidden museum, a place whose existence you'd never suspect behind a historic or commonplace façade. Well, the Musée de la Pharmacie is one of them, and perhaps the best hidden in Paris! You'll find it in a beautiful courtyard, behind the mansions at 4 and 6 avenue Ruysdaël, just off the Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement. The site is now home to theOrdre National des Pharmaciens!
Accessible free of charge by appointment, the museum houses exceptional collections of objects used in the preparation of medicines, astonishing ingredients, vases and pharmacopoeia books from the 16th to the 20th century. You need to go back a few centuries to understand the origins of this very well-preserved museum, which welcomes you in its beautiful Norman-Moorish pavilion, the only one of its kind in the capital, a real jewel. Take the opportunity to discover the period staircase, with its black woodwork and shimmering mosaics depicting the gods of Olympus.
Gaston Menier, grandson of Jean-Antoine-Brutus Menier, founder of drogueries pharmaceutiques and later of Chocolats Menier, owned this mansion. Although this wealthy 19th-century industrialist family gradually abandoned their pharmaceutical heritage, they were responsible for numerous discoveries and inventions in the field. That's why the museum features the Menier droguier, a monumental therapeutic arsenal of 755 jars, with its crayfish eyes, sulphur flower, lead pencil and other gems that we can scarcely imagine being used today!
Opened in 2010, the Musée de la Pharmacie showcases several thousand items, some of which are almost five centuries old. Apothecary's objects and utensils, vintage medicine jars, antique books, posters, caricatures, prints... Curiosities that you'll discover with interest alongside guide Camille Jolin. Before arriving at today's scientific knowledge, many people tried their hand at preparing remedies, without much success. That's right: until recently, people used highly toxic substances to treat themselves!
Did you know that until the 19th century, doctors and pharmacists used theriac, a preparation known since Antiquity, containing some fifty components, including a high dose of opium, which was supposed to cure just about every ailment in existence? In those days, this panacea was displayed in imposing vases like the one on display at the Musée de la Pharmacie! Many amusing anecdotes punctuate the visit, allowing us to grasp the progress of medicine over the centuries.
To discover this exceptional place, you can take a guided tour of the Menier family, or contact Camille Jolin at contact_app@ordre.pharmacien.fr. The collections manager offers free tours by appointment only, Monday to Thursday. To get to the Musée de la Pharmacie, take metro line 2 and get off at Monceau.)
Location
Ordre national des pharmaciens
4 Avenue Ruysdael
75008 Paris 8
Prices
Free
Recommended age
For all
Official website
exploreparis.com
Booking
contact_app@ordre.pharmacien.fr
