Montenegrin pharmacy developed through monastery healing, Adriatic trade and the gradual establishment of trained town pharmacists. Coastal communities were influenced by Mediterranean apothecary practice, while Cetinje and other administrative centres became important to organised public health.
Modernisation
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, formal education, pharmacopoeias and public-health regulation replaced much informal preparation. Pharmacies increasingly dispensed industrial medicines but retained compounding and counselling roles.
Today the state chain Montefarm and private pharmacies serve the country, while CInMED regulates medicines and medical devices. The network reflects Montenegro's geography: dense coastal and capital-city provision alongside smaller mountain communities.