Museum of Natural Sciences Sabiha Kasimati — Local services in Tirana Municipality

My experience visiting the Museum of Natural Science in Tirana was very disappointed and horrible ☹️ COULD NOT HAVE THE CHANCE TO VISIT THE MUSEUM , although we went there twice, within 3 days.

Went there with a friend of mine from Vancouver, Canada, who is recognized internationally for his professionalism in museums and was highly interested in visiting the Natural Science Museum in Tirana. 1st time went there on Wednesday, 17th July 2024, at 12:20 pm, after we checked online that the museum was opened from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. When we arrived there, 2 security guys told us that the museum was closed, as it was opened from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. As they mentioned, we could go back any other week day at the same timetable. We told them that online it's mentioned the timetable 8:00am-04:30 pm, but they said that the Town Hall of Tirana has changed the timetable.

That explanation sounded "fake"and "absurde" and "manipulative" to us, and we realized that the security guys were covering the museum staff.

Even though we understood their position, we went again at the museum, at the time they suggested us, 11:20 am, 2 days later, on Friday, 19th July 2024.

To our further and deeper disappointment, the security guy told us this time that, the staff was not there and "THE MUSEUM WAS CLOSED" due to disinfection, since 9:00 am of the same day.

There was not any written announcement anywhere, and neither was announced to us from the security guys 2 days earlier.

We were very disappointed and sad, as we WENT twice to visit the museum and we NEVER had the chance to visit it, due to the fact that "THE MUSEUM WAS CLOSED" and the person in charge skipped the work and still was able to get paid, as the "security guys were covering them".

From the other reviews I could read, it's obvious that "this is a bad routine" of the staff working at the Natural Science museum, and a "bad management" of the management staff, which doesn't care at all about it, as they get paid the same from our taxes. SHAME ON YOU FOR YOUR AWFUL WORK AND SERVICE!!! 😠 With the hope that maybe there's any change in the staff and management...

Established in 1948, the museum is affiliated with the University of Tirana and has branches in zoology, botany and geology. On 8 March 2018, the museum was named after Sabiha Kasimati, first Albanian scientist to make major contributions to the study of freshwater fish. Kasimati was killed in February 1951 by the Communist regime, accused of being part of a group of 22 Albanian intellectuals who had detonated a bomb in the Russian embassy in Tirana. In 1991, all victims were rehabilitated by the new government and awarded posthumously by the Order of Honour of the State. The museum is composed of seven pavilions that collect 3,000 items related to the rich Albanian biodiversity, including animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and aquatic invertebrates) and plants. The institution is the largest scientific, educational, educational and cultural complex in the country, and the only study centre on biodiversity and the Albanian environment.

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For what I'm sure are limited resources, they have done a good job. The museum is pretty small but nice if you want to know what animals are native to Albania. Their artifacts are themselves kind of a historical record of preservation, since some are decades old. What is unfortunate are their opening hours (Monday to Friday until 2pm), which aren't really very convenient for people who work during the day. Closing on a weekday and opening on Saturday would...