To buy the necessary medicines or cosmetics, today you just have to leave the house and get to the nearest pharmacy. But it is clear that this was not always the case: several centuries ago, the vast majority of the population did not even hear about medical institutions, and the local physician or healer inspected a sick person instead of a doctor. We became interested in how our fellow countrymen were treated before

In the times of Kyiv Rus, the prototype of modern pharmacies were «green rows» – bazaars, which sold therapeutic ointments, herbs, infusions or broths. Collecting healing herbs with their uncomplicated, but very necessary knowledge, served as a role of modern pharmacists.
It is likely that such prototypes of medical institutions were in Zhytomyr, but the first real pharmacy in 1789 was opened by Jan Daniel Wadzl. The permission to open the institution was given by Stanislaw II Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The wooden building stood on the spot where Zhytomyr Regional Music and Drama Theater is located today. A few years later she bought Franz Geynch, a man known in Zhytomyr, and in those days the pharmacy was more like a trading company than a medical institution. In addition to special production facilities, in which drugs, cosmetics and veterinary preparations were made, there were also «goods» for health: herbal fees, dressings materials, and chemical products.
By the end of the nineteenth century, several more pharmacies appeared in Zhytomyr : the pharmacy of the famous doctor and the «bookkeeper» by Edward Marian Galli, the wealthy citizens of Karl Grotta and Leon Pazzerkovsky and others. One of the pharmacies was located on Mikhailovskaya Street and belonged to Joseph Sakovich. Interestingly, this was the first homeopathic pharmacy in Zhytomyr.
At the beginning of the 20th century. A licensed pharmacy was opened, and it belonged to Volodymyr Kalensky, the best provincial pharmacist, a member of the health care committee of the Zhytomyr city administration. The building in which the pharmacy was located has still been preserved, but it is unlikely that you will recognize the former pharmaceutical establishment in a dilapidated building. The order in the pharmacies at that time was exemplary: every year audits were performed, quality of drugs was checked and the institution cleaned up. For revealed violations the owners of the institution were issued a considerable fine. But people could only get the medicine they prepared if they had a patent signed by a doctor and a medical commission. Therefore, stores or pharmacy stores began to appear, where it was possible to purchase already ready medicines. One of these pharmacy stores under the name «Starina and Luxury» was located in a building located at the corner of the Velyka Berdychivska and Sobornyi Maidan streets, and sold not only drugs but also cosmetics and perfumes.
However, one of the problems then was as relevant as now: there were not enough skilled personnel, not only in the field of medicine or pharmacy. Since 1797, since the entry into the Russian empire, the only educational institution in Zhitomir was the district school, which changed the form of education several times: it was three classes and five years old, and some classes were attended by students for two years. In the first half of the nineteenth century the school was liquidated, and from January 1, 1833, the Zhytomyr gymnasium started working at the house of the Gansky family on the street Mala Berdychivska. A little later appeared in Zhytomyr and women’s educational institutions – the Mariinsky gymnasium, the private gymnasium of Nadiya Ovsyannikova.
What about hospitals? The first appeared in 1776, and opened it at the female monastery of the Sisters of Sharif. The monastery received its name from the French word «sharité» – charity, charity. Although the powerful and rich monastery was eventually closed, a military hospital, which still works, was organized on the basis of the hospital.
In the 50 years of the 19th century a unified system of medical institutions began to operate, and stationary buildings were being built. At that time about 20 hospitals were opened in Zhytomyr.
One of the medical institutions, especially valuable for the Zhytomyr, was opened in 1901 to the maternity hospital of the brothers Durilines – where Sviatoslav Richter was born there. The water clinic, which was located on Mykolaivska Street, was in great demand in the villages and guests. The facility worked according to Kneipp’s doctor’s method, which used the healing power of water. Even the Volyn newspaper in the summer of 1899 wrote about «Gigienicheskaya and warm baths as a continuation of the day». The clinic worked hourly every day, except for Sunday, and managed by the institution known in those days, the doctor I. M. Garlinsky. The owner of the hydropathic clinic was BI Zifferman, who also worked as a teacher of French and German at the Mariinsky Women’s Gymnasium, collaborated with the Volyn newspaper, and sometimes acted as a juror in the Zhytomyr District Gubernial Court.
In 1910, ambulance carriages began to operate in Zhytomyr, due to which the sick and the wounded were taken to the hospital. Since December 30, 1912, another institution was opened – a light-emitting diode hospital. She was headed by Stanislav Karlovich Leshkevich, and specialized in nerve diseases and metabolic diseases – obesity, diabetes mellitus. Around the water gym there was a small garden, and in the premises there was a central heating and exhaust ventilation, so the patients were comfortable and comfortable at any time of the year. All the necessary equipment for the hospital was bought abroad, the needs of patients served as a novelty of medicine, and the department of hydrotherapeutic procedures was equipped with English faience baths. Such a level could not remain unnoticed, and eventually the hospital began to be in demand even by foreigners – people from different countries came to Zhytomyr to verify the effectiveness of procedures. This continued only until the October rebellion – the Communists nationalized the hospital, but this would not end its story. In the beginning of 1944, when the German occupation ended, the hospital, where «live» Zhytomyr water was used, mentioned – replaced the equipment, installed new electric lights, showers and shower and continued to treat people.
In the early 1950s near the Berdychiv Bridge in Zhytomyr, a healing water field was discovered, after which a new medical building was constructed on 16 rodon baths, which became the branch of the hydropathic clinic. In the early 1990’s, in the publication «Local History», it was proud to write that a massage complex with eleven masseurs works in the hydropathic clinic.
The medicinal properties of Zhytomyr nature combined with innovative methods and modern technologies gave excellent results of treatment, and therefore it was undoubtedly worth developing medical tourism: in 1995 the hospital was moved to Chudnovskyi highway, replacing the name with the «Center of vertebrology and rehabilitation». Now more than 5,500 patients per year can be treated annually in a reconstructed institution.
Over time, more and more medical facilities appeared on the map of Zhytomyr, and now in the city there are close to 100 pharmacies and 30 medical institutions of private and public funding. But no matter how up to date medical achievements, health remains the greatest value.
Health to you, readers of Zhytomyr.Travel, and those you love!

The editor of Zhytomyr.Travel thanks for the help in preparing the material for Sergi Sobchuk
Translated by Aliona Matushevich