Also known as the Pharmacy Under the Black Eagle, the Pharmacy Museum in Lviv is also the city’s oldest pharmacy. Founded in 1735 by a military pharmacist, it is still an operating drugstore today and continues to mix its “iron wine,” which can be bought as a souvenir. The museum opened in 1966 and now features a collection of more than 3,000 pharmaceutical items, including instruments, medicine bottles, prescriptions, pharmacy-related books and, most notably, an 18th century pharmaceutical scale on display in the Trade Room. The scale is attached to one-meter high figures of the God of Medical Treatment and his daughter, the Goddess of Health.
The second room, known as the Material Room, showcases the collection of ancient medicines and pharmaceutical instruments, as well as ancient machinery used for making pills. The third room of the museum tells the history of pharmacy dating back to ancient times and the fourth room recreates an old pharmacist’s laboratory and features a collection of rare medicinal plants from all around the world.
Practical Info
The Pharmacy Museum is located on Drukarska Street, on the corner of Lviv’s Rynok Square, right in the heart of the city. It is walking distance from most central Lviv hotels.
Possibly the finest art museum in Ukraine, the Lviv Art Gallery is home to more than 60,000 pieces of art from all over the world. Its history can be traced back to a Polish museum started in 1907 and expanded with additional collections in 1914 and 1929. Significantly, it features a large number of pieces by Polish artists that were acquired during World War II, giving it the most impressive collection of Polish art outside of Poland. The gallery has been in its current location, in the renovated palace of Count Potocki, since 2005.
Art is displayed in the gallery throughout thirty halls that are divided by epochs and art movements. In addition to Polish artists, it includes works from leading Dutch, Flemish, French, Italian Austrian, German, Russian and Ukrainian masters from the 14th to 18th centuries. Two particular highlights are Georges de la Tour’s “Payment of Dues” and Tiziano Vecellio’s “Portrait of a Man,” but works by Rubens, Bruegel, Goya and Caravaggio are also featured.
Practical Info
The Lviv Art Gallery has two wings: one inside the Pototsky Palace and the other around the corner. The former features the European masterpieces, while the latter is home to the impressive Polish collection. The gallery is near the intersection of Stefanyka and Kopernika Streets, a three-minute walk from Prospect Svobody and Ivan Franko National University.
Address: 3 Stefanyka St., Lviv, Ukraine
Hours: Open daily during summer months, 11 am. To 6 p.m., and during the winter, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last visitors are admitted one hour before close. The gallery is closed on Mondays.
