Museums/Galleries

Museums in Tirana are among the main tourist attraction based on the simple fact that Albania is a country rich in history yet little known to outsiders. As a result the Historic and Archaeological Museums are the first stops for visitor to Albania and Tirana. The National Historic Museum is one of the best museums in the country and offers an in depth exploration of the country’s history from the ancient Illyrians to the recent communist regime which ended in 1991 after 45 years of brutality. The Archaeological Museum offers a panorama of the country’s ancient past through a depiction of archaeological artefacts uncovered in the different archaeological sites spread all over the country.

Tirana is also the city where the National Gallery of Arts is situated. This is particularly interesting for the art lovers as it contains some of the best Albanian visual art creations. Furthermore it offers a special pavilion on the Socialist Realism, a powerful propaganda tool of the dictatorship through an art form which idealized only the positive aspects of the regime. Paintings of happy workers, villagers, families, youth and children dominate this art style.