Farina, time to smell nice!

Although the city of Cologne is known for its Gothic Cathedral, its perfumery tradition is well known (the German brand 4711 being the most famous of this type) and if you want to delve into its interesting history you can visit the Perfume Museum in the Casa Farina ( Duftmuseum im Farina-Haus in German).

This site is located in the Casa Farina, in front of the Cologne City Hall, and where the original Farina Eau de Cologne was previously manufactured and since 1723 it is the headquarters of the perfume factory “Johann Maria gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz” created in 1709 and considered the oldest in the world.

Today this is under discussion, as it is said that La Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella -in Florence- already produced perfumes since the time of the Black Death -l’Aqua di Rosa- and in 1547 it became famous for creating the perfume of Catherine de Medici -l’Aqua de la Regina-, a perfume she took to France to marry Enrique Valois. Both products predate Farina settling in Cologne in 1725

There are those who claim that Farina was based on Aqua de la Regina for his Eau de Cologne.