Skanderberg equestrian statue in Skanderberg Square and the National History Museum.

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

National History Museum

Top choice in Tirana


The largest museum in Albania holds many of the country's archaeological treasures and a replica of Skanderbeg's massive sword (how he held it, rode his horse and fought at the same time is a mystery). The lighting might be poor, but fortunately the excellent collection is almost entirely signed in English and takes you chronologically from ancient Illyria to the postcommunist era. The collection of statues, mosaics and columns from ancient Greek and Roman times is breathtaking.

A disturbing and very important gallery devoted to those who suffered persecution under the communist regime is the most recent addition to the collection, though frustratingly, almost none of this display is in English. Another highlight is a terrific exhibition of icons by Onufri, a renowned 16th-century Albanian master of colour. The modernist mosaic adorning the museum's facade is entitled Albania and shows Albanians victorious and proud from Illyrian times through to WWII, with some unsurprisingly communist overtones.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Tirana attractions

1. Sheshi Skënderbej

0.11 MILES

Sheshi Skënderbej is the best place to start witnessing Tirana's daily goings-on. Until it was pulled down by an angry mob in 1991, a 10m-high bronze…

2. Palace of Culture

0.12 MILES

To the east of Sheshi Skënderbej is the white stone Palace of Culture, which has a theatre, shops and art galleries. Construction of the palace began as a…

4. Et'hem Bey Mosque

0.15 MILES

To one side of Sheshi Skënderbej, the 1789–1823 Et'hem Bey Mosque was spared destruction during the atheism campaign of the late 1960s because of its…

5. House of Leaves

0.19 MILES

This grand old 1930s building started life as Albania's first maternity hospital, but within a few years the focus turned from creating new life to ending…

6. Clock Tower

0.21 MILES

Tirana's 35m-tall clock tower was completed by Ottoman architects in 1822, and it was for years the tallest building in the capital, sounding a bell every…

7. Bunk'Art 2

0.21 MILES

The little cousin to the main Bunk'Art, this museum, which is within a communist-era bunker and underground tunnel system below the Ministry of Internal…

8. Statue of the Unknown Partisan

0.26 MILES

The socialist realist Statue of the Unknown Partisan, just off Sheshi Skënderbej, seems to be aiming his weapons at the Parliament building (1924) down…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "albania/tirana/attractions/national-history-museum/a/poi-sig/1251918/358549",
      "destination": "Tirana",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Albania",
      "city": "Tirana",
      "position": "superzone"
    }