It is located in Gitega and was founded under Belgian colonial rule in 1955.

[3] Founded in 1955, the museum was intended to preserve artefacts from Burundian folk culture which were declining as a result of modernisation and social change.

Its collection includes ethnographic and historical objects originating in the country, including artefacts from the court of the Burundian monarchs.

[3] The lack of funds has meant that the museum has made few recent acquisitions.

[3] In 2015, a catalogue of the museum's collection was published with the support of the German Embassy in Burundi entitled Le Patrimoine Burundais: le Musée de Gitega.