National Archaeological Museum
National Archaeological Museum
3
About
National Archaeological Museum This is the first museum created after World War II. It was opened on 01.11.1948 as the Archaeological - Ethnographic Museum and retained this feature until 1976, when ethnographic pavilion was separated and the museum was organized like a profiled archaeological museum. The National Archaeological Museum presents archaeological researches and artefacts unearthed i
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3.0
32 reviews
Excellent
3
Very good
9
Average
13
Poor
6
Terrible
1
globalraveller32
Auckland, New Zealand54 contributions
Jul 2019 • Couples
Well worth a visit if you enjoy archaelogical treasures and ancient history. It is located in Skanderbeg Square a large open air public space with fountains and recreational activities for the people. There is a large monument to Skanderbeg in the square acknowledging his place as having "founded" Albania. A large replica of his sword is in the museum. The museum traces the history of Albania from Roman/Greek times through to the turbulent history of Albania under Communism when the county was closed off to any entry or exit of people. Many Albanians lost their lives during this period and the display is descriptive of this period. Most of the earlier period displays also carry English interpretations, but latter periods tend to be only in Albanian. None the less, worth a visit--a picture is worth a thousand words.
Written 2 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ioannis K
London, UK12 contributions
Dec 2019
I visited in early December 2019. Works were being done, it looked unnecessarily complicated to buy a ticket at the entrance, the bar code didn't really work, and the whole museum looked very run down. Most importantly, much of the later history section texts, linked to Albanian nationalism and the birth of an Albanian national identity, were conveniently left untranslated. Good luck if you don't speak Albanian and want to understand how Albanians brand their own history for internal use.
Written 13 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brenton K
Adelaide, Australia1,210 contributions
Jul 2018 • Solo
Did not go in after reading the other reviews, but instead walked around the building which looks like it might need to be replaced
Written 12 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daya101
Tallinn, Estonia513 contributions
Jul 2018 • Friends
The museum was advertised on several websites as being free, and it being my last day in Albania and my budget blown I headed over. On arrival the lady behind the desk who I thought was a cleaner charged me 300 Lek. The museum had been open 4 hours and I was clearly the first guest of the day as she had to unlock the interior door to allow me access. The museum is simply one long room with artifacts along the walls. Aside fromm a number above each collection indicating it's age ie IV century V Century there is zero information in either Albanian or English. Most of the displays are in very dusty glass cases, and seem neglected. Having looked at everything on display twice I was in and out within 10 minutes . 300 Lek wasted it really is not worth it I would rather have visited a different museum a second time instead. In the lobby I saw stairs going up I must have looked as if I intended to climb them because within a mili second I was having a finger waved at me by security indicating no access upstairs. This museum is in dire need and TBH it would be better to just move the entire collection to the National History Museum which has 16 times as many exhibits on display over several floors and only charged 200 Lek to enter.
Written 11 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katrien S
Ghent, Belgium1,943 contributions
May 2018 • Couples
If you have a special interest in archaeology, then it is worth a visit. However, if not, then there are better archaeological museums in the country to visit. The museum is not closed for refurbishment, although perhaps it should be. The display dates from the 80's and hasn´t been updated since. In a lot of the display cases the lights did not work, and the only information is the place an object was found. We did receive a flyer with general information about the objects on display. The cases also need to be cleaned. Furthermore, the best archaeological objects are on display in the national history museum on Skandenberg square. So, even the items on display are not the greatest. However, there are decent (black and white) pictures of some of the archaeological sites as well as some of the mosaics you will not get to see, as they are covered again.
Written 30 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Raymond W
Townsville, Australia4,533 contributions
Apr 2017 • Couples
We headed to this museum thinking that a country which was home to Greek, Ilyrian and Ottoman ruins would surely have a worthwhile National Archeological Museum. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed with what we found.
The biggest problem was lighting. It was so dark in parts of this museum that we were unable to read the captions. When we took photos, you needed a flash! This place was not just dimly lit. It was dark. This is not adequate when you are asked to pay 300 lek to enter. Also, only a minority of the exhibits were captioned in English.
The museum does have some impressive marble statues of gods and mortals from the Greek era, especially the ancient site of Apollonia. There are also terracotta figurines, pots and stelae. Yet until improvements are made, this place probably isn't worth your time.
The biggest problem was lighting. It was so dark in parts of this museum that we were unable to read the captions. When we took photos, you needed a flash! This place was not just dimly lit. It was dark. This is not adequate when you are asked to pay 300 lek to enter. Also, only a minority of the exhibits were captioned in English.
The museum does have some impressive marble statues of gods and mortals from the Greek era, especially the ancient site of Apollonia. There are also terracotta figurines, pots and stelae. Yet until improvements are made, this place probably isn't worth your time.
Written 11 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steve D
Liverpool, UK486 contributions
Aug 2022 • Couples
A nicely laid out display.The basement has outstanding Illyrian artefacts and is in English.The top 2 floors are in Albanian also but are interesting about the fall of Communism.
Written 5 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Regis F
126 contributions
Aug 2021 • Solo
It is open, you have to go to its back to enter. Contrarily to what has been said in previous comments, it now does have air-conditioning, and one entrance now costs 500 leke.
Written 10 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heighway61
Liverpool, UK73 contributions
Oct 2019
I visited here on a quiet Monday afternoon, so the place was deserted.
There are some very interesting artefacts inside, dating back to centuries BC. However, the layout of said artefacts isn't the best and there is little in the way of written explanations to guide the visitor. It is just about possible to piece together what's what - and the period that relates to each display - but it could be better.
In short, it is certainly worth visiting if you're in this part of town - especially if you're a history buff and have an interest in archaeology - but the museum itself is in need of a little TLC in my opinion.
There are some very interesting artefacts inside, dating back to centuries BC. However, the layout of said artefacts isn't the best and there is little in the way of written explanations to guide the visitor. It is just about possible to piece together what's what - and the period that relates to each display - but it could be better.
In short, it is certainly worth visiting if you're in this part of town - especially if you're a history buff and have an interest in archaeology - but the museum itself is in need of a little TLC in my opinion.
Written 13 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ukienomad
Fleming Island, FL6,710 contributions
Sept 2019
I hope I have the right Museum but if it is, it’s very large, all objects are placed spaciously from each other and we found it boring. We were all exhausted so I can’t remember a lot but you couldn’t take pictures once you came inside. it was also a very hot day and they didn’t have air conditioning. We did have a guides explaining the history but I think we were out of it. They had displays replicas of armor and paintings depicting Skanderbeg’s struggles. Hope you find it more enjoyable
Written 15 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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