Health conditions in Pirot and its surroundings before and during the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century underwent a major evolution from traditional folk medicine to a modern healthcare system. Due to marshy terrain and its location on a busy road, the region was exposed for centuries to floods and devastating epidemics such as plague and cholera, which is why the local population primarily relied on folk healers, medicinal herbs, and manuscripts such as the "Pirot Pharmacopeia" (Pirotska lekaruša). A turning point in modernization began in the second half of the 19th century with the opening of the first pharmacies and the introduction of strict state supervision over public health. Following the liberation in 1877, the first medical institutions were established, educated doctors arrived, and the first surgical ope ...