Sarrá Pharmacy

The Pharmacy of Havana Museum reopened on July 30th, 2004. Permanent exhibitions on its three great halls show the history of pharmacy in Cuba.

The Catalá, Sarrá and Co. society opened the drug store La Reunión in May 1853, at 41 Teniente Rey Street.
It was one of the most elegant and prestigious pharmacies of Havana. At the beginning of 20th century it was considered second in importance world wide and the first in Cuba.

According to the new laws adopted after the triumph of the Revolution, La Reunión is nationalized. It remained working until 1999, when the Office of the Havana Historian decided to undertake its restoration and to turn it into the Pharmacy of Havana Museum.

The first hall takes the place of the old pharmacy, and it preserves all its neogothic style furniture, with its Moorish influence. The room is decorated with beautiful display cabinets, which exhibit reproductions of pharmacy jars with the device of La Reunión and a label with the name of the medicine. Medications like Emulsion of Scott, Spirulina and other natural products can be purchased here. This salon also includes the dispensary and the back room, where bottles of drugs, mortars, machines for pill-making, balances, and microscopes can be appreciated.

The second hall pays tribute to the singular Havana establishments by collecting medicine bottles and other devices related to the art of healing and treating, extracted from archaeological excavations made in the Historical Centre of the city. Data of interest for the history of pharmacy in Cuba could be assessed from these findings. A collection of formula’s copying books is presented here, and constitutes a most valuable document in the study of Cuban pharmacopoeia.

Spices and curative herbs can be purchased in the third hall of the museum.