Museu da Farmacia
Museu da Farmacia
4
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
About
The Pharmacy and Health Museum proposes an attractive and unusual experience through 5000 years of history of health. Its vast collection includes objects of rare artistic, anthropological, and scientific value, describing a journey, where each civilization is portrayed under a narrative of disease-fighting and the seeking of healing and pain relief, since the first traces of life on earth until today, passing through cultures and civilizations as distinct in time and place as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Incas, the Aztecs, Islam, Africa, Tibet, China, Japan, among others. A journey that, although it started in prehistory, it is still being built today on the testimonies that now reach us from the “future”, such as portable pharmacies and first aid kits used by NASA astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Bairro Alto, Bica & Cais do Sodré
Enjoy a cocktail, discover a jazz club, hit the dance floor or simply grab a beer and catch up with your friends in the street: Bairro Alto, Bica and Cais do Sodré are the core of it all. Amazing rooftops, restaurants, cafes, bars, art galleries, museums and theaters abound. Start off by admiring the river from the Santa Catarina belvedere, have a cocktail at PARK's rooftop bar, try a typical Portuguese steak, or the fresh grilled fish, at Príncipe do Calhariz, and later explore the dozens of streets full of bars and clubs! Whether you're visiting for a day or a whole week, make sure you visit Bairro Alto and its surroundings.
How to get there
- Cais do Sodré • 6 min walk
- Baixa/Chiado • 9 min walk
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See what travellers are saying
- soinic2,842 contributionsSmall but beautiful 🌞The pharmacy museum is located in an attractive building where friendly staff welcomed us. We paid cash: 4 Euro pp (senior ticket) and had a very interesting visit! The 2 nice ladies even kept our shopping bag at the entrance (no lockers). The ladies proudly informed us that everything in the exhibition rooms was "original". Very interesting explanations about Odette Ferreira who discovered the HIV-2 virus and was doing a lot in order to fight aids (information campaigns etc). Of course you get a lot of information about "pharmacy", but also other unexpected items are waiting to be discovered! Like "chastity belt", male&female! This is my "souvenir" to take home from this museum 🤣 Recommend visiting this "small but beautiful" museum 🤗Visited November 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 12 November 2023
- Andrew Z354 contributionsGreat museum not only for a rainy days.Lovely not crowdy museum. Wonderful exhibition not only from Portugal, but around the world. Good pharmacy history lesson from ancient time until nowadays. Recommended for everyone who like to learn a little bit more about pharmacy/pharmacists. There is an outside terrace (coffee, snacks) with nice Lisbon view.Visited March 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 3 April 2024
- genibre69London, United Kingdom5,341 contributionsAbsolutely loved my time hereI LOVED this place. For a pittance of an entrance fee, you can see incredible artifacts spanning centuries, dating back to ancient Egyptian times. Yes, some exhibits are not well-arranged: random sandwiching of South America and Tibetan cases between European exhibits as one example. Yes, some cases are not lit up; and the intro placards to each section aren’t translated (but are roughly done so in the online guide). There is a random model croc in the pharmacy exhibit with no explanation haha. But all artifacts and exhibits have English translations. My friend and I spent about 2 hours in here. Utterly fascinating. The ticket counter employee was unpleasant.Visited June 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 13 July 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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4.0
169 reviews
Excellent
76
Very good
56
Average
22
Poor
9
Terrible
6
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
This service may contain translations provided by Google. Google disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to translations, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from forgery.
soinic
Lux.2,842 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
The pharmacy museum is located in an attractive building where friendly staff welcomed us.
We paid cash: 4 Euro pp (senior ticket) and had a very interesting visit! The 2 nice ladies even kept our shopping bag at the entrance (no lockers).
The ladies proudly informed us that everything in the exhibition rooms was "original".
Very interesting explanations about Odette Ferreira who discovered the HIV-2 virus and was doing a lot in order to fight aids (information campaigns etc).
Of course you get a lot of information about "pharmacy", but also other unexpected items are waiting to be discovered! Like "chastity belt", male&female! This is my "souvenir" to take home from this museum 🤣
Recommend visiting this "small but beautiful" museum 🤗
We paid cash: 4 Euro pp (senior ticket) and had a very interesting visit! The 2 nice ladies even kept our shopping bag at the entrance (no lockers).
The ladies proudly informed us that everything in the exhibition rooms was "original".
Very interesting explanations about Odette Ferreira who discovered the HIV-2 virus and was doing a lot in order to fight aids (information campaigns etc).
Of course you get a lot of information about "pharmacy", but also other unexpected items are waiting to be discovered! Like "chastity belt", male&female! This is my "souvenir" to take home from this museum 🤣
Recommend visiting this "small but beautiful" museum 🤗
Written 12 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emilie C
Orleans, France314 contributions
Mar 2024 • Solo
I visited this museum because I like everything related to health and pharmacy.
I took the opportunity to visit it on a rainy day.
The scenes are very well illustrated and well provided.
Upstairs there are more pieces of antiquity and various continents.
I took the opportunity to visit it on a rainy day.
The scenes are very well illustrated and well provided.
Upstairs there are more pieces of antiquity and various continents.
Written 1 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Marshall C
Norman, OK48 contributions
July 2022 • Solo
I’m not sure why this received such good ratings. I work in health and was very interested to see this but was really disappointed in the low quality of the exhibit. Also FYI They don’t take cash, the Wi-Fi doesn’t work upstairs in the exhibit and when I came down to tell them this they just shrugged. All the English is through QR codes so you have to use a lot of cellular data to see the exhibits. I would do that for a high quality exhibit but this is nothing special. Spend your time somewhere else.
Written 28 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew Z
New York354 contributions
Mar 2024 • Couples
Lovely not crowdy museum. Wonderful exhibition not only from Portugal, but around the world. Good pharmacy history lesson from ancient time until nowadays. Recommended for everyone who like to learn a little bit more about pharmacy/pharmacists.
There is an outside terrace (coffee, snacks) with nice Lisbon view.
There is an outside terrace (coffee, snacks) with nice Lisbon view.
Written 3 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ozzie5melbourne
Melbourne464 contributions
Feb 2020
The museum houses a diverse range of artefacts from old chemist shops (which are so beautiful) to ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Italian items all vaguely connected with pharmacy through the ages. It was the first time I had seen a male chastity belt and the massage machine to manage ‘hysteria’ before Freud stepped in to tell women what it was all about.
Written 24 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emmeline P
Northampton, UK181 contributions
June 2019 • Family
The museum has two parts - world pharmacy and Portuguese pharmacy. We only had half an hour spare so we decided to view the world pharmacy section only. It has so many wonderful little artefacts from throughout history - loads of items that make you go "ooh, come and look at this".
I think the information regarding each piece could do with being increased - maybe a little section explaining what type of medicine was practised during that era, and in return how the pieces were used.
Also, I paid almost 14 euros for two tickets - which seemed a bit steep for a relatively small museum.
I think the information regarding each piece could do with being increased - maybe a little section explaining what type of medicine was practised during that era, and in return how the pieces were used.
Also, I paid almost 14 euros for two tickets - which seemed a bit steep for a relatively small museum.
Written 5 June 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Emmeline
Thank you for the nice review of our Museum.
We are making some changes to improve the experience of the visit.
See you soon.
Written 7 June 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
YannP
Saint-Cloud, France110 contributions
Aug 2017 • Family
This museum won several awards, it was made by pharmacists to show their work... although there are interesting pieces, I have to agree with Robyn_H review, there is no explanation about pharmacy treatments.
It also lacks interactivity. Modern science needs to be explained. We cannot just visit a pharmacy museum and just observe what other civilizations used (or were supposed) to do centuries ago. What about now?
How medication is made now?
Not everything is translated in English.
Yes, we were disappointed.
It also lacks interactivity. Modern science needs to be explained. We cannot just visit a pharmacy museum and just observe what other civilizations used (or were supposed) to do centuries ago. What about now?
How medication is made now?
Not everything is translated in English.
Yes, we were disappointed.
Written 9 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello YannP
Thank you for your visit.
Written 6 September 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Robyn H
Coeur d'Alene, ID359 contributions
Sept 2017 • Solo
I work in health care. I was hoping for a look at pharmacy treatments through the ages: how did they year the plague? What were midev trellises? What could you but over the counter at the turn of the century, how did they market laudenum and cocaine,etc.
There were since com things: a WWII medical lot, mex moot from space travel. Old apothecary jars and a mock u from an authentic Chinese apothecary. But it is not about pharmacy artifacts and NOT about pharmaceutical treatment. If that ( artifacts)is what you want it is great, but it wasn't what I was looking for or expected. Also there are several restaurants on premesis and it is a little tricky to locate the museum, it is downstairs.
There were since com things: a WWII medical lot, mex moot from space travel. Old apothecary jars and a mock u from an authentic Chinese apothecary. But it is not about pharmacy artifacts and NOT about pharmaceutical treatment. If that ( artifacts)is what you want it is great, but it wasn't what I was looking for or expected. Also there are several restaurants on premesis and it is a little tricky to locate the museum, it is downstairs.
Written 7 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Robyn H
Thank for your review.
Written 9 July 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
JayjayWolf
61 contributions
May 2017 • Couples
An incredible discovery out of the blue. DEFINITELY worth a trip. We were walking back towards our hotel after taking the tram 28 through the centre, when we stumble across a sign for the Pharmaceutical Museum. Very good lay out and very interesting objects. A real gem to visit!
Written 20 May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
revett2016
Santa Rosa, CA533 contributions
Sept 2016
A real gem of a museum with great exhibits you can see in 45 min. Has great artifacts and dioramas over years. A must see if you are interested in the history of medicine or pharmacy.
Written 18 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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