The Old Pharmacy Provenzano was founded in 1814 as a drugstore by the Doctor Garzia in the ancient entrance hall of the old Pirelli Palace, wide building in the street Antonietta de Pace in Gallipoli.
In 1882 Giovanni Provenzano takes over the management of the drugstore with a degree in pharmacy and, after his death in 1944, his son the Doctor Luigi Provenzano and his wife the Doctor Maria Consiglio inherited the pharmacy. Nowadays the Doctor Agata Provenzano is the manager with all her family: the two sons, both pharmacists and her husband, the lawyer Pietro Arlotta.
Old Pharmacy Provenzano's entrance
Old Pharmacy Provenzano's plate
Old Pharmacy Provenzano
The inside of the pharmacy is certainly suggestive because it is wooden structured with shelves separated by columns among which we can find showcases that once contained powders and spices. Now showcases are used for the exhibition of ceramics. The ceiling has high reliefs enriched with friezes and frames that converge in the keystone. The keystone is rich in meaning because it shows the meeting between two emblematic mythological figures: the goddess Minerva and the Goddess Fortuna. The Armed Minerva is the symbol of wisdom and the goddess Fortuna hold in one hand a cornucopia, symbol of wealth and in the other one she has an helm symbol of guide to men’s destiny.
Old Pharmacy Provenzano's intern
Old Pharmacy Provenzano's intern
Old Pharmacy Provenzano's high reliefs
Old Pharmacy Provenzano's ceramics collection
- Photos and text by Martina Pagnoni moc.liamg|inongapytram#| and Benedetta Silano moc.liamg|attedenebonalis#| (November 2018)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Bibliography
- Carrozza Federica, "Antica Farmacia Provenzano, nel centro del centro storico, tra la cattedrale, le confraternite e le chiese antiche c'è chi cura anche il corpo…", Anxa, maggio/giugno 2011.