Owned by the Spanish State, its management has been transferred to the Ministry of Culture of the Junta of Andalusia.

[2] Following a number of relocations of the collection, the Spanish State bought the Rennaissance palace of Páez de Castillejo [es] in 1942 as new premises for the museum.

[4] The museum was transferred from the Spanish State to the regional administration of Andalusia via a Royal Decree issue on 29 February 1984.

[7] The museum incorporates its own archeological site, featuring the remains of the city's Roman theatre.

The collection could be divided in three large subgroups: 1) Prehistory and Protohistory, 2) Rome and the Visigothic Culture and 3) Islam and Mudéjar art.