Antica Farmacia Santa Maria della Scala

Once farmacia to the 17th Century Papal court, this pharmacy is still run by Carmelite monks and remains adjacent to Trastavere's Santa Maria della Scala church. The classically designed space is worth a visit for the decor alone: a marble room decorated with murals of medicinal herbs. A dramatic archway fronts the dispensary area. Although the aqua antipestilenziale has been long discontinued—tourists and locals no longer contend with bubonic plague—the farmacia still does a steady trade in copra di far' Silvestro, a melissa- and calendula-oil infused talcum powder/deodorant.