# Jesuit Pharmacy Museum, Grodno > The Jesuit Pharmacy is the oldest pharmacy in today's Belarus: the Jesuits put up its building on Sovetskaya Square in 1709, and it still sells medicines. A small museum of old apothecary gear sits beside the shop. Allow 20–30 minutes. The pharmacy is open daily 8:00–22:00; the museum room is free or a token fee (unofficial). Web page: https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-pharmacy-museum - City: [Grodno](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno), Belarus - YesGo score: 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 30 min - Opening hours: Pharmacy daily 8:00–22:00; museum room in the daytime, roughly until 19:00 (unofficial) - With kids: Fine with kids - Pharmacy: Daily 8:00–22:00 - Museum room: Daytime, roughly until 19:00 — unofficial - Entry: Free or a token fee — unofficial - Guided tour: Paid, arranged with the staff - Address: Sovetskaya Square 4, Grodno - Phone: +375 152 62-42-42 - Payment: Carry Belarusian rubles in cash; foreign cards work only via non-sanctioned banks - Time needed: 20–30 minutes - Coordinates: 53.67850, 23.83130 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **1709** — the Jesuits built the pharmacy on the market square (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Znai Svoi Krai (my-places.by)) - **Oldest** — pharmacy in present-day Belarus — and still trading (source: English Wikipedia; Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik, 2017) - **1687** — first written mention of the Jesuit pharmacy in Grodno (source: Russian Wikipedia; Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik, 2017) - **1996** — the pharmacy reopened, with a museum added (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik, 2017) - **1950** — the year the original pharmacy finally closed, after surviving wars and changes of rule (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **1988** — listed as a national historical and cultural monument (source: Russian Wikipedia; Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik, 2017) - **Gilibert** — the French botanist Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert worked here with the Grodno Medical Academy in the 1770s (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik, 2017) - **1586** — King Stefan Batory died in Grodno; a museum section covers his autopsy (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik, 2017) - **Jesuit college** — the pharmacy is part of the same complex as the Farny Cathedral (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Znai Svoi Krai (my-places.by)) - **Biotest** — the Grodno drug maker that runs the pharmacy and museum (source: English Wikipedia; Biotest official website) ## Opening hours and entrance fee The pharmacy itself is open **every day, 8:00–22:00**, according to Biotest, the company that runs it. The museum room keeps shorter hours — unofficially, daytime until around 19:00. Weekdays between 10:00 and 18:00 are the safest bet. There is no official price for the museum. Map listings and guidebooks describe entry as either free or a token fee; a guided talk and taking photos may cost extra (unofficial). The museum's own website would not load when we checked, so call ahead if you want a tour: +375 152 62-42-42. **Paying:** bring Belarusian rubles (BYN) in cash. Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards work only at terminals and ATMs of banks not under sanctions, so they can fail without warning. Banks and exchange offices in the centre change euros and dollars. > **It is a working pharmacy first** The museum is a small display next to the shop counter, not a multi-room museum. Locals queue for prescriptions here, so skip the flash and keep clear of the till. Ask a member of staff about a tour — the labels are in Russian and Latin, and without a guide much of it is just handsome jars on shelves. ## What is the Jesuit Pharmacy? It was the pharmacy of Grodno's **Jesuit college** — the monastery and school whose church is now the [Farny Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-farny-cathedral), right next door. It first treated monks and students, then began selling to townspeople and earning money for the college. Today the building has two halves. One is an ordinary modern pharmacy with a herbal department selling teas, herbal blends and tinctures. The other is the museum: scales, glass and porcelain jars, instruments and old books under the original vaulted ceilings and wrought-iron fittings. Tourist guides call it the only pharmacy museum in Belarus, and it is a rare case of an 18th-century monument still doing the job it was built for. ## What to see inside - **The herbalist's “alchemist corner”** — retorts, mortars and bundles of dried herbs set up like an old lab. - **The prescription room** from around 1900, with cabinets of jars labelled in Latin. - Apothecary scales, weights and vessels — most from the 19th and early 20th centuries, the rarest from the 18th. - Prescription labels from pharmacies across the Grodno region and drug advertising from the 1920s–30s. - A section on the autopsy of **King Stefan Batory**, who died suddenly in Grodno in December 1586. - Herbariums the museum links to the writer Eliza Orzeszkowa, who lived in Grodno and loved botany. - The vaulted ceilings and ironwork of the building itself, visible even from the shop floor. ## How to get to the Jesuit Pharmacy 1. Head for **Sovetskaya Square** and the Farny Cathedral: the pharmacy is in the same row of buildings, at number 4, with its door on the square. 2. From Grodno railway station or the bus station next to it, walk about **20 minutes** south-west along Ozheshko Street and the pedestrian [Sovetskaya Street](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-sovetskaya-street). 3. Or take a city bus or a taxi to Sovetskaya Square — 5–10 minutes. 4. From the pharmacy, the [Old and New Castles](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-castles) are about 5 minutes away along Zamkovaya Street; the [Fire Tower](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-fire-tower) and the [Bernardine Church](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-bernardine-church) are within 10 minutes. ## Is the Grodno pharmacy museum worth visiting? Yes, if you are already on Sovetskaya Square: it takes 20 minutes, and nowhere else in Belarus combines a working pharmacy with a museum like this. Children tend to like the scales, retorts and jars. It is not worth crossing town for on its own. The display is small and the labels are not in English. With one day in Grodno, give your time to the castles, [Kalozha Church](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/kalozha-church) and the Farny Cathedral, and drop into the pharmacy on the way past. ## A short history The Jesuit pharmacy is first mentioned in **1687**. In **1709** the Jesuits gave it its own building on the market square — the one standing today (English Wikipedia dates the construction to 1700–1709). After the order was suppressed, the Commission of National Education took it over. In the 1770s it belonged to the Grodno Medical Academy, where the French botanist **Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert** taught; his botanical garden survives as [Gilibert Park](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-gilibert-park). The pharmacy kept trading until **1950**, through every change of border and government. The building later held a pharmacy warehouse and a furniture shop. It became a protected monument in 1988, and in **1996** Biotest restored it and reopened the pharmacy with a museum; the first display was built from objects donated by local people. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Going in the daytime, while the museum room is open - [ ] Some Belarusian rubles in cash - [ ] Translation app ready — labels are in Russian and Latin - [ ] 20–30 minutes in the plan - [ ] Ask the staff about a tour - [ ] The Farny Cathedral next door straight after ## Pharmacy museum vs the Farny Cathedral and the castles | | Pharmacy museum | Farny Cathedral | Castles | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | 18th-century pharmacy with a museum | Jesuit baroque cathedral | Old and New Castles above the Neman | | Highlight | Old apothecary and herbs | Huge carved altar | City history and river views | | Where | Sovetskaya Square 4 | Sovetskaya Square, next door | 5 minutes' walk from the square | | Time needed | 20–30 min | ≈ 30 min | 1–2 h | | With kids | Yes — short and visual | Quiet, it is a church | Yes, room to roam | The pharmacy is a quick stop, not a destination. Start at the Farny Cathedral, step into the pharmacy next door and save most of your time for the castles. ## Historic Grodno compared Every historic place in Grodno rated by YesGo. - [Kalozha Church](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/kalozha-church) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Farny Cathedral (St Francis Xavier Cathedral)](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-farny-cathedral) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free - [Sovetskaya Street](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-sovetskaya-street) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free, open 24/7 - [Fire Lookout Tower](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-fire-tower) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free outside; museum by appointment - [Bernardine Church](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-bernardine-church) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Lutheran Church of St John](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-lutheran-church) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free; concerts are ticketed - [Holy Intercession Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-intercession-cathedral) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 25 min · Free - [Gilibert Park](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-gilibert-park) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free; rides cost extra - [Jesuit Pharmacy Museum](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-pharmacy-museum) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free or token fee (unofficial) - [Old and New Castles](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-castles) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · 10–12 BYN per castle, separate tickets ## Old Grodno in half a day Sovetskaya Street from the station, the Farny Cathedral and the pharmacy side by side, the castles and the 12th-century church above the Neman. 1. [Sovetskaya Street](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-sovetskaya-street) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free, open 24/7 2. [Farny Cathedral (St Francis Xavier Cathedral)](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-farny-cathedral) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free 3. [Jesuit Pharmacy Museum](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-pharmacy-museum) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free or token fee (unofficial) 4. [Old and New Castles](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/grodno-castles) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · 10–12 BYN per castle, separate tickets 5. [Kalozha Church](https://yesgo.io/belarus/grodno/kalozha-church) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free > **A souvenir from the counter** Skip the fridge magnet and buy a pack of herbal tea from the herbal department: a useful gift from the country's oldest pharmacy, and lighter than a souvenir mug. Prescription drugs need a Belarusian prescription. ## Good to know On maps and the sign it appears as Apteka-Muzey No. 1; in Belarusian the city is Hrodna. Other pharmacy museums — in Lviv, Riga or Kraków — are different places. The Eliza Orzeszkowa House Museum is a separate museum on Ozheshko Street. ## Tips - Pop in straight after the Farny Cathedral — it is the next building, one minute away. - Weekday mornings are quietest at the counter, and staff have more time to talk about the museum. - Without a tour, 15 minutes covers the alchemist corner, the prescription room and the vaults. - For the best photo of the façade, with its balcony and gilded signs, cross to the far side of the square. - From here, walk on to the castles along Zamkovaya Street — five minutes. ## Questions ### What are the Grodno pharmacy museum opening hours? The pharmacy is open daily 8:00–22:00. The museum room is open in the daytime, roughly until 19:00 — unofficial, so call ahead if it matters. ### Is there an entrance fee? There is no official price. Unofficially, entry is free or a token fee, with guided tours charged separately. ### Where is the Jesuit Pharmacy in Grodno? At Sovetskaya Square 4, in the city centre, next to the Farny Cathedral — about 20 minutes' walk from the railway station. ### How old is the pharmacy? The building dates from 1709 and the pharmacy is first mentioned in 1687, making it the oldest pharmacy in present-day Belarus. ### Can I buy medicine there? Yes, it is a working pharmacy with a herbal department. Prescription drugs need a Belarusian prescription. ### Is it worth visiting? Yes as a 20-minute stop on Sovetskaya Square; not worth a special trip. The display is small and labels are not in English. ### Can I pay by card? Carry Belarusian rubles in cash. Foreign Visa and Mastercard work only at banks not under sanctions and can be refused. ### How long do I need? 20–30 minutes, a little more with a guided talk. ### Is it good for kids? Yes — it is short, and the scales, retorts and jars are easy to enjoy without reading the labels. ## How we checked The pharmacy's address, phone and hours come from Biotest's official website. The museum's own site (am.biotest.by) would not load on 30.10.2026, from our computer or from a server, so the museum room's hours (until 19:00 on its Yandex Maps listing) and the entry fee are marked “verifying”: listings call entry either free or a token fee, and none gives an amount. Historical facts are checked against at least two sources. The building is dated 1709 (Russian Wikipedia, Znai Svoi Krai) or 1700–1709 (English Wikipedia); the first mention is 1687. Sources give Batory's autopsy as 14 or 15 December 1586, so we say December 1586. The size and number of display rooms differ between sources (one 50 m² room or two rooms), so we leave them out. A claim that Wilfrid Voynich worked here appears in only one source and is not used. Card acceptance for foreign visitors depends on the issuing bank, so the payment row is marked “verifying”. ## Sources - Biotest official website (biotest.by), pharmacy network page: Apteka-Muzey No. 1 — address, phone and hours, 30.10.2026 - English Wikipedia: Jesuit Pharmacy in Grodno; Russian Wikipedia: Apteka-muzey (Grodno); Wikidata Q3919535 - Pharmatsevticheskiy Vestnik: “The Jesuit monks' pharmacy”, 23.01.2017 - Znai Svoi Krai (my-places.by): Grodno. Pharmacy Museum - Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion (muzej.by): virtual exhibition “Medicine” - Yandex Maps: Apteka-Muzey No. 1 listing, 30.10.2026 - Aviasales: “How to pay in Belarus in 2026”, 12.03.2026; ATM Fee Saver: money and cards in Belarus, 2026 --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.