Budapest Guide
Várhegy and central Buda
The Golden Eagle Pharmacy
Opening time: Mon 10.30am–5.30pm, Tues– Sun 10.30am–6.30pm
Price: 500Ft
Address: Tárnok utca 18
The Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum (Arany Sas Patikamúzeum) was the first pharmacy in Buda, established after the expulsion of the Turks, and moved to its present site in the eighteenth century. Its original murals and furnishings lend authenticity to dubious nostrums, including the skull of a mummy used to make Mumia powder to treat epilepsy; there's also a reconstruction of an alchemist's laboratory, complete with dried bats and crocodiles, and other obscure exhibits such as the small, long-necked Roman glass vessel for collecting widows' tears. The museum has no handouts in English, but the staff can usually explain the more interesting bits. Notice the portrait of the Dominican nun pharmacist – it was common practice for nuns and monks in the Middle Ages to double up as apothecaries.