From 24 May to 30 November 2025, an exhibition at the National Library of the Abbey Palace of Loreto (Mercogliano, Italy)
On Friday, 24 May 2025 at 11:00 AM, the exhibition “Pharmakon: Monks, Heirs of Care and Beauty” opened to the public at the National Library of the Abbey Palace of Loreto in Mercogliano (Avellino). This major cultural initiative will be open to visitors until 30 November 2025.
Strongly supported and organized by Abbot Riccardo Luca Guariglia, Ordinary Abbot of Montevergine, together with the National Library of Montevergine, the exhibition offers an integrated journey through centuries of history to explore the relationship between science, religion, and the care of the human being.
Thanks to the valuable collaboration with the Archaeological Parks of Paestum and Velia, the Civic Museum Palazzo dei Consoli in Gubbio, the Benedictine Abbey of Cava de’ Tirreni, and with images provided by the Benedictine Abbey of San Martino delle Scale (Palermo), the exhibition presents previously unseen archaeological artefacts, ancient texts, parchments, herbarium sheets, and contemporary artworks, many of which are on display for the first time.
This is an exhibition of exceptional importance, which addresses various themes through an integrated approach and places at its center the relationship between science and religion across time and space.
declared Abbot Riccardo Luca Guariglia, emphasizing the fundamental role that monasticism has played in the history of Care — understood as medicine, psychological support, and the strength of both mind and spirit.
Thanks to the generous collaboration of Dr. Tiziana D’Angelo, Director of the Archaeological Parks of Paestum and Velia, the exhibition features, for the first time, artefacts related to the cult of Asclepius, rare texts, pharmacy jars, and documents of great scientific and historical value.
Also partnering in the exhibition is the Municipality of Gubbio, which contributed with several loans from the Civic Museum and a special educational project developed in collaboration with the ISS Cassata Gattapone, the Sperelliana Municipal Library, and with the expertise of Dr. Giuseppe Marino Nardelli.
Ancient parchments, sixteenth-century volumes, and herbarium sheets find their place today in an exhibition where they come alive within a context that intelligently situates them within the history of Care.
says Don Carmine Allegretti, Head of the Libraries of Montevergine and Cava de’ Tirreni, one of the organizers and host of the exhibition.
The exhibition is curated by architect Carla Maurano, who offers a holistic and interdisciplinary interpretation of the heritage of healing and spirituality, aligned with the latest international recommendations (UNESCO, ICOMOS) for the safeguarding and enhancement of cultural heritage.
It is the narrative of how Science and Religion meet in the name of human fragility - states Maurano - a story that crosses the past and projects itself into the future, where the Care of humanity and that of the planet become one and the same.
The exhibition is part of the broader efforts of the European Route of Historic Pharmacies and Medicinal Gardens – Aromas Itinerarium Salutis, Cultural Route of the Council of Europe since 2024.
