National Iconographic Museum Onufri
National Iconographic Museum Onufri
4.5
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
264 reviews
Excellent
156
Very good
84
Average
23
Poor
1
Terrible
0
T-SGlobetrotters
Preston, UK2,863 contributions
Sep 2023 • Couples
The museum is housed in a former historic church situated within the castle boundary with additional extensions on two floors. It is well presented although there is only very limited information available next to each icon. There is an audio guide available for those requiring more information on the history of each object but we’re happy simply to admire the artistry of the works. A visit takes about an hour.
Written 30 September 2023
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.
Dutchie
Oxford, UK7 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
Fascinating and moving to learn about how people in Berat cared for each other, irrespective of religious differences.
Written 4 August 2023
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.
mariekg
Tournissan, France16 contributions
Mar 2023
I am not an expert on icons: I got interested visiting the islands of Greece years ago and meeting some contemporary artists there. The Iconographic Museum Onufri was stepping back into history and better appreciating the more modern work. You can really get into the depth of things or just have a pleasant browse about ...
Written 18 March 2023
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.
Michael W
Redding, CT1,112 contributions
Sep 2022 • Couples
I suppose you could spend one to two hours here if you’re really into Ottoman and post Ottoman history and icons. The audio guide certainly helps and the icons are quite interesting but we didn’t need anything like this amount of time to see all the rooms. I’m not sure what the point of having no photography is, as long as no flash is used, but that would certainly have made a difference for us.
Written 29 September 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.
Walpy
Holland294 contributions
Sep 2022 • Couples
Take an hour and have a close look at this amazing collection of icons inside the beautiful church, the iconostasis alone is worth traveling to see. Annoying bus groups whizz through but most of the time it's easy to spend a little time looking at these lovely survivors of the Hoxha nightmare. Good audio guide available. No photography.
Written 23 September 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.
2429AKM
London, UK42 contributions
Sep 2022 • Couples
Beautiful icons. Very informative audio guide. Definitely worth your time. We went after seeing the national museum of medieval art in korca and this added another layer - we love Albanian icons - such beautiful and interesting art!
Written 1 September 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.
Klein
Tirana, Albania1 contribution
Aug 2022 • Friends
The museum is located in an old Byzantine church which is located inside the city's castle. There are multiple kinds of tickets for different categories of visitors but the most common ones are the basic one which costs 400 L and the audio guide one which costs 100 L more (500 L) and offers guiding in 4 different languages, including Albanian.
Me and my friend took the basic one and were offered a printed guiding paper. We were offered a secure shelf to put our backpacks if we so wished and we were told there were no photos allowed inside. This would actually be reaffirmed a couple of times by the guard staying at the door.
The museum can be broken down into 3 sections:
The main part is the actual church part which offers an interesting view of a typical byzantine era church with a large iconostasis, it's thronos and the usual church benches. Some of the dome frescoes are damaged but the floor mosaics are in very good conditions.
The second part is located in the sanctuary place of the church and is the place where Codex Purpureus Beratinus, one of the most important liturgical works in Albania, was found.
The third part is the collection of icons and some other liturgical items which are located mostly on the second floor. Most, if not all, of them are made by Onufri and his era contemporaries and some of them have some Albanian-English papers close to them giving further details.
When we got out we were informed by the guard that we had to return the printed information guide. I utilised this moment to ask some historical questions to the museum staff which were more than helpful to answer each of them and even provide extra information.
All in all I can say that the museum does offer a great potential given its architectural, historical, liturgical and artistic values that it has intertwined in itself. Unfortunately though I believe that potential has yet to be fully utilised. The overall experience may appear rather poor to art history uninformed people, its main points of interests could benefit from some good layed out information or different artistic enhancements (such as short movies, etc.) and the overall visit flow could be improved (some of the items did have QR codes close to them but we felt uneasy bringing our phones out for scanning because of all the verbal warnings that were constantly given to not make photos, the printed guide didn't mention anything about the second floor which we could have fully missed if not for the walking noise we heard upstairs and returning it in the end wasn't mentioned in the beginning - "the whole get it and return it" experience may feel rather unnatural).
Me and my friend took the basic one and were offered a printed guiding paper. We were offered a secure shelf to put our backpacks if we so wished and we were told there were no photos allowed inside. This would actually be reaffirmed a couple of times by the guard staying at the door.
The museum can be broken down into 3 sections:
The main part is the actual church part which offers an interesting view of a typical byzantine era church with a large iconostasis, it's thronos and the usual church benches. Some of the dome frescoes are damaged but the floor mosaics are in very good conditions.
The second part is located in the sanctuary place of the church and is the place where Codex Purpureus Beratinus, one of the most important liturgical works in Albania, was found.
The third part is the collection of icons and some other liturgical items which are located mostly on the second floor. Most, if not all, of them are made by Onufri and his era contemporaries and some of them have some Albanian-English papers close to them giving further details.
When we got out we were informed by the guard that we had to return the printed information guide. I utilised this moment to ask some historical questions to the museum staff which were more than helpful to answer each of them and even provide extra information.
All in all I can say that the museum does offer a great potential given its architectural, historical, liturgical and artistic values that it has intertwined in itself. Unfortunately though I believe that potential has yet to be fully utilised. The overall experience may appear rather poor to art history uninformed people, its main points of interests could benefit from some good layed out information or different artistic enhancements (such as short movies, etc.) and the overall visit flow could be improved (some of the items did have QR codes close to them but we felt uneasy bringing our phones out for scanning because of all the verbal warnings that were constantly given to not make photos, the printed guide didn't mention anything about the second floor which we could have fully missed if not for the walking noise we heard upstairs and returning it in the end wasn't mentioned in the beginning - "the whole get it and return it" experience may feel rather unnatural).
Written 11 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.
Theo550
United, PA38 contributions
Jul 2022
A must visit museum in Berat if you are fascinated about the locals history for ottoman and post ottoman era.
Written 7 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.
Terry M
Hamilton, Canada4,638 contributions
Jun 2022
This treasure can be found inside the Church of the Dormition of St Mary within the confines of Berat Castle. No photographs are allowed of the less than 200 objects, mostly icon. It was named in honour of Onufri, a painting headmaster from the 16th century. He had a trademark orange red [or is it reddish orange?] colour. It is a splendid place to view these icons and liturgical items.
Written 27 June 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.
Cheryl D
New Haven, CT132 contributions
May 2022
The museum is in a lovely old church. The icons are well presented. There is not much text with them and I found the audio guide to be very useful and interesting.
Written 18 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.
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Claim your listingNational Iconographic Museum Onufri (Berat) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor
Frequently Asked Questions about National Iconographic Museum Onufri
- According to Tripadvisor travellers, these are the best ways to experience National Iconographic Museum Onufri:
- Berat Full Day Trip from Tirana (From ₹ 9,238.13)
- Day Trip To Berat ,Explore Berat ,UNESCO Heritage with Tirana Day Trips (From ₹ 14,319.73)
- Berat - Day Tour by ADRIATIK TOURS LLC (From ₹ 12,934.22)
- Day Tour of Berat via Belsh Lake from Tirana (From ₹ 10,305.58)
- Day trip of Berat from Tirana (From ₹ 6,467.11)
- Hotels near National Iconographic Museum Onufri:
- (0.06 km) Guest House Genti
- (0.09 km) Hotel Klea
- (0.10 km) Kris Guesthouse
- (0.11 km) Berati Castle Hotel
- (0.09 km) Guest house Vasili
- Restaurants near National Iconographic Museum Onufri:
- (0.05 km) Mbrica Restaurant Traditional food
- (0.06 km) Temi Albanian Food
- (0.06 km) Bar Akropoli
- (0.08 km) Restaurant Klea
- (0.09 km) Bar Restorant Tradicional Antipatrea