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The oldest pharmacy in Split

 

 

The oldest pharmacy in Split is the one on the ground floor of the building at 2 Marmont Street. It was opened in 1856 by a pharmacist Jovo Matačić. He equipped the space with furniture from a pharmacy in Italy, around the year 1890. The furniture is adapted to the space, and its authenticity is confirmed by neo-Renaissance ornamental decorations and visual representations of Galen and Aesculapius. According to some data, carved shelves and equipment for the pharmacy arrived from a pharmacy in Chioggia, and according to others from Rimini. Certainly the furniture was not new.

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, the pharmacy was bought by a pharmacist called Bonetti. It was privately owned by his family until the nationalization in 1948. First it became a social ownership, and later it was united with the City Pharmacies (Gradske Ijekarne). Pharmacist Niko Bonetti was the first director of the pharmacy Matačić, and then became its owner. The pharmacist Ermeland(o) Rocco, born in 1882, graduated from pharmaceutics in Zagreb on 31st October 1919. His first position was in a pharmacy Supetar on the island of Brad, and later at the National pharmacy no. 4 in Split. In 1953 he was the president of Croatian Pharmaceutical Society - the Split branch. Pharmacist Marija Duboković, born in 1933, was the head of the pharmacy from 1980 to 1989. In 2001, the nationalized space of the pharmacy was returned to the Ilić family, who sells the space. Part of the pharmacy space (room for the head of the pharmacy, laboratory and warehouse) was taken away, and the new annex was built in the yard. The new owners of the space claim that they are entitled to the historic furniture of the pharmacy, even though it is owned by the Bonetti family.

 

Because of its location in the busiest street in the city center, the pharmacists of this pharmacy also managed the depot in Lastovo, and served the ships and some agencies. In 1984, workers of the pharmacy received a diploma, the certificate of the Chamber of Commerce of Dalmatia "For tourist hospitality", as the institution of the city that is most responsible for helping with both medicine and a kind word.

 

The pharmacy is under the protection of the Ministry of Culture, and its complete furniture for recipes is still in function. From the year 1890, it was a true showcase because of its interior and the most beautiful location in the city, with two front windows and plenty of light.