The museum is located in Barcelona's Palau de Mar, the former General Stores (Magatzems Generals de Comerç), the sole building of Barcelona's old industrial port still standing.

The permanent exhibition "The memory of a country" consists of a journey through the history of Catalonia from prehistoric to contemporary times, documenting the main events, cultures and historic personalities that made up the history of Catalonia.

It is divided on 8 historical periods and it develops on the second and third floor of the museum building.

[3] The museum website offers free of charge online audio guides for the exhibitions in different languages: Catalan, Spanish, English and French.

Since 1997, the museum building also holds the Center for Contemporary History of Catalonia and its library, which is administered by the Ministry of the Presidency.