It is one of the oldest pharmacies in Florence, if not in Italy, as shown by documents that testify to its existence in the late 13th Century. Then it was a spice shop and had a diamond as its symbol because it was situated on the corner called "Diamond Corner".

It is said that Dante, who was a member of the Art of Medicine and Spices often went there.

It belonged, for centuries, to a noble Florentine family until 1892 when it acquired its current name, the Pharmacy Molteni, with a young pharmacist Alfredo Alitti from the region of the Marches as its manager. Alitti turned the backrooms of the Pharmacy into a real laboratory where he managed to produce, as long ago as 1894 and a first for Italy, sterile hypodermic ampoules which were rapidly and widely circulated. They were even used to cure Giuseppe Verdi in the last years of his life.

This production developed significantly so that the laboratories had to be enlarged and were therefore transferred to a warehouse in Viale Principe Amedeo next to Piazza Cavour, today called the Piazza Della Libertą.

Of many of their pharmacological preparations, STERIDROLO MOLTENI should be remembered because, as recorded in history books, it was used by the Italian army in the African campaign to disinfect drinking water, including puddle water!

As a result of its continued growth, the Pharmacy moved, in 1914, to the "Chimico-Farmaceutico Molteni" ('Chemist - Pharmacist Molteni') on the side of the hill of Fiesole.

The only original 13th Century feature that remains is the supporting structure of the of the Pharmacy, which occupies some rooms in the Calmala Palace, as the interior is currently 19th Century.

The cross-vaulting is decorated with golden stuccoes on a cream background and is late neo-classical.

The furniture consists in wall cupboards and an inlaid L-shaped counter decorated in gold with the emblems of the art of medicine, and is the work of the Fiorentine sculptor G. Duprč (1817-1882).