Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella

The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is one of the most unusual places to visit in Florence: a working perfumery and herbal shop that has its roots in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella. The friars settled here in 1221 and grew medicinal plants for their remedies; rose water was recorded as a disinfectant in the 14th century, a convent pharmacy is documented by the early 1500s, and in 1612 it opened to the public. In 1659 Grand Duke Ferdinando II granted it the title of the grand duke's own foundry. It passed to the state in the 1860s and is now a private company, but it still occupies the historic rooms of the former convent.

Walking in from Via della Scala, you reach the grand sales hall, once a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas, with a vaulted ceiling painted in 1848 with allegories of the four continents and tall neo-Gothic walnut cabinets full of bottles. Beyond are the Green Room, a 14th-century space that later held distillation equipment; the Water Room, with 14th-century frescoes by Mariotto di Nardo; and the old apothecary, used as a shop from 1612 to 1848, with alembics, majolica jars, mortars and scales on display.

The best-known product is the Acqua della Regina, a citrus cologne traditionally linked to Catherine de' Medici, but the shelves also hold soaps, pot-pourri, creams, herbal liqueurs and teas, many made to old recipes. Prices are those of a luxury brand, though small soaps and pot-pourri sachets make affordable souvenirs. You are free to look around without buying.

Allow thirty to forty-five minutes, more if you want to try fragrances. Mornings are quieter than afternoons. The rooms are on the ground floor, and staff are used to visitors who are there mainly to admire the interiors.

The shop is on Via della Scala, around the corner from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella and about five minutes' walk from the station. It combines naturally with a visit to the basilica, whose cloisters and frescoes are part of the same former convent, and with lunch in the streets around Piazza Santa Maria Novella.