'Venice Treacle' causes a stir

These mysterious indentations in the pavement of Campo Santo Stefano are easily overlooked, but they give an intriguing insight into Venice's mercantile past.

From the late Middle Ages onwards, Venice was famous for producing a quack remedy known as Theriaca or (in Venetian dialect) Triaca, a panacea that had existed in various forms since the 1st century BC. The Venetians reinvented the potion, using numerous exotic ingredients imported via their trade routes in the East.  The recipe included opium, ginger, saffron, cinnamon, viper's flesh and much else, all combined in a palatable honey base.  Triaca quickly became a best-seller, not only as a cure-all but also as a preventative measure against the plague.  By the 18th century, English entrepreneurs had taken a keen interest and were marketing the miraculous 'Venice Treacle' in London.  Venice tried from the outset to establish and protect a monopoly, licensing only a handful of carefully vetted Venetian apothecaries to manufacture and sell the product.  To strengthen the impression of transparency and authenticity, licensees were required to prepare their Triaca in public, pounding the ingredients in mortars for all to see.  The indentations in Campo Santo Stefano are the result.

The woodcut gives a vivid and noisy impression of the process. It depicts a scene outside the most famous of Triaca outlets, the apothecary and grocery store Alla Testa d'Oro (in English, the 'head of gold'), by the Rialto Bridge near the church of San Bartolomeo. Their Triaca was so good that they held a license to produce it three times a year rather than just once, as was the case with their competitors.

All that remains of the original shop today is this remarkable gilded bust, the original 'head of gold', one of the most striking and beautiful trade emblems in Europe. It is not certain whom the bust depicts - it may conceivably have been one of the owners. But the figure has the confidence and bearing of a Doge, a good marketing ploy doubtless designed to inspire confidence more effectively than a written sign might have done amongst a largely illiterate populace.

There are still some wonderfully preserved examples of the old Venetian apothecaries, notably the perfumery at San Fosca, Cannareggio.

Yet shop interiors like this are rare. Now pharmacies are brightly lit and have garishly modern chain-store frontages. This raises obvious questions about aesthetics and marketing, especially in a city like Venice. The post-war decades have seen the progressive vandalisation of older facades in favour of jarring new-build and intrusive branding. 

Recently, tour guides for the discerning visitor have started to include the treacle trail in their itineraries.