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The chemist’s shop in Llardecans Llardecans (la Plana - el Segrià), was founded by Tomàs Piñol Llop in 1846. The opening date is commemorated by a mortar carved out of stone. This can be seen on the central stone of the arcade that gives access to the building and constitutes an important documentary reference. From the 1980s onwards, this chemist’s shop began to generate an interest that went beyond its purely scientific and commercial functions. The fact that the form and design of the shop have remained unchanged since it was founded in the middle of the 19th century bestows significant added value and interest. As a result, the chemist’s shop has been featured in various local tourist guides and has also appeared in a number of specialised publications dedicated to the pharmaceutical sector. Furthermore, large numbers of people have been inspired to visit the pharmacy and listen to explanations from its most recent pharmacist: Tomàs Piñol Visa. The difference between this chemist’s shop and others that have either maintained certain isolated elements of furniture (such as counters) or perhaps collections of chemist’s shop products (such as pots, glosses and ceramics) is that the Piñol pharmacy conserves an extraordinarily complete and homogeneous set of furniture and fittings: for this reason, it can rightly be regarded as the oldest chemist’s shop in Catalonia. From the type and lay out of its furniture, the murals that decorate the shop, the ceramic and glass jars and other typical chemist’s shop items, to its magnificent pharmacological reference library, everything remains "in situ" and is perfectly interrelated and contextualised. All of these elements form part of a bigger whole that has been gradually developed over time, from generation to generation: this is certainly not the result of someone just collecting different items.
The most important heritage value of this group lies in the fact that it is possible to contextualise and perfectly document each of the individual elements found in the shop and to trace their use from the 19th century and to the modern day. Without a doubt, the fact that this reference collection can also be found in its original setting also gives it even greater value and importance. We think that it is important to highlight the following: ·The shop combines elements from various different periods and different styles of furniture which further enriches its global value and interest. If these items of furniture were isolated and taken out of their original context, they would lose much of their heritage value.
·The pottery and the pharmacy jars: pots and jars dating from the first half of the 19th century. They bear Latin inscriptions referring to the product originally kept in them and the majority of these containers still maintain remnants of their original contents.
·It is also important to highlight the collection of bottles, jars and glass instruments that are labelled with the names of the products that they contained: dyes, soft extracts and various other products. It is also possible to see a number of isolated pieces (such as funnels, flasks, and the odd bottle) that seem to date from the 18th and 19th centuries.
·Other objects used in the chemist’s shop include: a large metallic mortar and another large mortar made of stone, sets of balances from different periods, sieves, boxes, and precision tools. This series of objects provides a good insight into the work of the pharmacist and, above all, into the evolution of the profession from the 19th century until the present day. Furthermore, since February 2007, the whole site has been recognised as a Cultural Property of Local Interest
·The wall murals were painted with water-based paints and cover the ceiling, door and walls of the chemist’s shop.
·The library, which is part of the shop itself, contains a large number of books that are representative of scientific, pharmacological and cultural publications of the different historical periods that the chemist’s shop has known. As well as the books, there is also a large collection of family documents referring to the shop and the history of the family that ran it. Furthermore, since February 2007, the whole site has been recognised as a Cultural Property of Local Interest
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Did you know that Llardecans has the oldest chemist's shop in Catalonia?