INTRODUCTION
In the Antica Farmacia Pesci, the antique pharmacy located on Piazza di Trevi (Via della Stamperia, 89) in the centre of Rome, the famous balm of Pope Innocent XI, known as Balsamo Innocenziano (Balm of Innocent), is still prepared.
In the past, it was available only at the church of Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari (Saints Blaise and Charles in Catinari) in Rome, where it used to be located the Congregation of S. Ivo dei Medici that took care of the sick of the Ospedale di San Giacomo degli Incurabili.1
USE
This balm was mainly used for healing wounds previously cleaned by means of cooked leaves of fig, horehound and clover as well for healing bruises and sciatica. It was also an excellent medicament for spleen and stomachache.
INGREDIENTS
Among its ingredients there are St.John's Wort flowers, Angelica-roots,myrrh, incense and alcohol.
- Photos and main text by Asia Festa moc.liamg|aisayzal#| and Domenico Ioverno moc.liamg|j88lpc#| (November 2017)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Bibliography
- Patrizia Costabile "Antica Farmacia Pesci" in Erbe e speziali.I laboratori della salute, Aboca Museum Edizioni, Arezzo 2007, pp.267-271