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The Town Hall is far from being the only attraction in the Raekoja plats area. The Apothecary, one of the oldest in Northern Europe, was established in 1422, well before Columbus arrived in America-and has been operational ever since.
The Burchardts, a family of Hungarian extraction, ran the apothecary for more than 10 generations. The medieval apothecary was more akin to a general store; wares included such items as playing cards, tobacco, gunpowder, fruit wine and more. The pharmacopeia of the time included 'medicines' such as fish-eye powder, lanolin, black-cat urine, dried frog's legs, and sundry other arcane ointments and tinctures.
Burchardt's repute was so wide that he was called upon to attend Peter I on his deathbed. However, the message arrived too late. The Burchardts also have the honor of organizing the capital's first art fair and establishing the first museum, a folk life institution called Mon Faible.
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