Santa Maria Novella, Rosa, 100 ml. or 3.3 oz. Flacon, Eau de Cologne, 1381, 1980, Florence, Italy ..

Santa Maria Novella is probably the world’s oldest apothecary. It was started in 1221, when there were outcasts living in Florence, Foà says. “Monks were called in to take care of the outcasts and preparations were made to help them while a convent was established. The monks later tried to defeat the Black Death.” One of the earliest preparations, in 1380, utilized roses, as the monks thought that petals of roses combated pestilence. Thus distilled rose petals .. rose water .. was born.

In the 16th century, when Catherine de’ Medici became queen of France, she brought Florentine customs to the royal court. One was the wearing of perfume and she commissioned the Dominican monks to create a fragrance in her honor, “Eau de la Reine.” It represents the first time that alcohol was used in the preparation of perfumes. Today, the fragrance, called Acqua di S. M. Novella in Italian, is a bestseller. In 1614, Friar Angiolo Marchissi created the Acqua di Santa Maria Novella. This elixir, to be diluted in a glass of water, was originally called “anti-hysterics water” and contains essential oils of aromatic plants.

Potpourri is one of the pharmacy's emblematic products, created in the middle of the 17th century. It is a mixture of buds, leaves and flowers typical of the Tuscan hills. Today, the imperial houses of Japan and the United Arab Emirates purchase products for their households from the tony pharmacy. Santa Maria Novella is a particular favorite of the Asian market, which comprises a large part of the clientele. “Our customers understand that we create different products. We have a high position in the marketplace… We carry on the tradition of the monks with innovations in our laboratories,” Foa says.

Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella’s Rosa fragrance is a bouquet of floral notes evoking the characteristic scent of the queen of perfumery, Rosa centifolia, or May rose. The rose has a long history, dating back to the Sumerians. It is mentioned in the Iliad. In 5th century BC China rose essence was used exclusively by the emperor and the nobility at court. It was used widely in ancient Rome: rose petals were strewed on the roads for holidays and at banquets garlands of roses were worn and rose water was sprinkled on the guests. There is evidence in the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella archives that the Dominican monks of Santa Maria Novella marketed rose water as far back as 1381. In flower symbolism the meaning varies depending on the color. White roses symbolize innocence, red roses passion and yellow roses symbolize unfaithfulness and jealousy.

Offered here is pristine 3.3 ounce bottle of this gorgeous fragrance. Cool, sweet, and feminine! Beautiful!! So so lovely! Discontinued now, so almost impossible to fine one in this condition which is also full. This is a divine fragrance ..