First opened in 1980, the museum today holds around 8,000 items, some 6,500 of them icons, alongside works in wood, stone, metal and textiles that trace the development of iconography in Albania. In 2016 it reopened in a new, purpose-built home, the result of a joint investment by the Albanian and Greek governments.
The star of the collection is Onufri, the 16th-century master regarded as the most important painter of icons and murals in early post-Byzantine Albania. The museum holds the largest collection of his icons, among them ‘The Resurrection of Lazarus’. You will also find works by other celebrated painters such as David Selenica and the Zografi brothers, whose richly coloured icons once adorned churches across the region.
The permanent exhibition presents around 400 icons across a series of atmospheric rooms, including the Golden Hall. Allow at least an hour to take it all in.
