The Reial Acadèmia de Farmàcia de Catalunya is a historic Gothic-style space located in the former Hospital de la Santa Creu, in the Raval neighbourhood. Within the walls of one of Catalonia’s best-preserved historic pharmacies, the institution now serves as a centre for research and the dissemination of pharmaceutical sciences. Its rooms still preserve 19th-century furnishings, apothecary jars, wooden boxes and prescriptions from renowned doctors of the time. The building itself sparks curiosity among passers-by, with windows revealing glimpses of a courtyard behind a Renaissance-style wrought-iron gate. Everything remains intact, with original details quietly telling their stories.
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Many visitors don’t realise that the arrangement of shelves and display cases isn’t just about Baroque symmetry – it follows an almost obsessive logic in classifying pharmaceutical knowledge.
If you have the chance to join a guided tour, take it: spaces are limited and the tour includes corners usually off-limits to the public.
Today, the Reial Acadèmia not only preserves tradition but also sparks debates on health and science, welcoming new generations through its doors.
