Doctor Pel's Pharmacy Museum

About museum

The pharmacy at 16/18, 7th Line of Vasilievsky Island has existed since 1760. At that time it was bought by Wilhelm Pel, who quickly became a supplier to His Imperial Majesty's court. From that moment began the history of a dynasty of pharmacists who were the first in Russia to produce tablets, ampoules and even gilded pills. Pel is said to have been an enthusiast of alchemy. Above the laboratory stood a brick chimney, still called the “Griffins' Tower”: according to legend, the pharmacists' griffins lived there and guarded the secrets of gold production. The pharmacy operated during the Revolution and the Siege of Leningrad, and in 2010 it was turned into a museum. More than 300 exhibits are displayed here — medical instruments and devices from various eras, chemical apparatus, and antique medicines in heraldic bottles. In the basement there is an alchemical laboratory and the air-raid shelter of besieged Leningrad. Tours and workshops for children are held here. There is also a service for delivering notes with wishes from the pharmacy's guests to the “Griffins' Tower”.