Apotheek van het Sint-Janshospitaal (Pharmacy of the St John's Hospital)

If you got ill in the Middle Ages, there were far fewer options than there are today to recover. Above all, you had to pray a lot and prepare for the afterlife. Since the 12th century, you could do this at St John's Hospital, the oldest and largest hospital in the city. Imagine spacious wards with rows of beds. Travellers, pilgrims, the poor and the sick were given shelter, spiritual guidance and care here. But the latter was often limited to a bloodletting or a medicinal herbal mixture.

From the mid-17th century, the hospital had its own pharmacy. The entrance is located between the herb beds at Eleonora Verbeke Square. Have a look inside and be awed by the well-preserved interior. This is where the nurses prepared their herbal mixtures. The herb cabinets, instruments, jugs and pitchers, jars and the authentic counter with the original recipes from that time have been preserved.