More visitors to National History Museum

TIRANA, July 23 – The opening of a new pavillion on communist regime terror in Albania and commemorating events on Albania’s 100th independence anniversary has considerably increased the number of visitors to the National Museum of History in Tirana, one of the key cultural attractions in the capital. Museum officials say the number of visitors during the first half of 2012 rose by 13 percent to 22,000 compared to the same period last year. Visitors include foreigners, and mostly Albanian students.
Museum officials expect the number of visitors to continue growing in the second half of 2012 considering the series of scheduled exhibitions and events which will culminate on November when Albania marks its centenary independence.
The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 to 17.00.
Inaugurated in 1981, the National Museum of History features several sections, such as the Middle Ages, the National Revival, the Independence period, the World Wars, as well as areas devoted to antiquity, dictatorship, ethnography and iconography.
Some 4,750 items are displayed in the museum which is the country’s biggest.
Striking is the Antiquity Pavilion starting from the Paleolithic period to the late antiquity, in the 4-th century A.D with almost 400 first-class items. The Middle Ages pavilion with almost 300 objects unveils the historical transformation process of the ancient Illyrians into early Arbers. The best works of 18-th and 19-th century painters are also displayed in the museum. Among the impressive values of the above mentioned pavilions is the evidence of prehistoric culture in Albania, archaic period and pre-urban Illyrian period, Illyrian period and many objects relating to the mix of Greek and Roman cultures.