In 1870, Luigi Torelli, the prefect of Venice, purchased the Palazzo del Consiglio to house a centre of archaeological artefacts found in Torcello, its adjacent islands and the nearby mainland.

[1][2] In 1872 after Torelli had given the building to the Province of Venice, the museum was founded, assigning the direction to the researcher Nicolò Battaglini.

[1][2] In 1887, Cesare Augusto Levi took his place: he continued the collection from the area and added others which he gathered during his travels, especially in Rome.

In 1974, after a radical restoration of the Palazzo del Consiglio and of the objects exhibited, the medieval and modern sections were opened.

In the following years the Palazzo dell’Archivio was restored and the present archaeological section was inaugurated in the summer of 1990 with a new layout.