The museum holds world-famous archaeological, numismatic, ethnographic and weapons collections, examples of decorative and applied arts, manuscripts, prints, paintings and drawings, as well as relics of the Ukrainian national liberation movement of the 20th century.

They financed archaeological expeditions and helped to create collections with historical and ethnographic artefacts.

The museum received new objects of applied art and coin collections as donations yearly.

[2] The ideological and educational role of the museum significantly increased during Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917–1921.

At the end of 1941 with the occupation of Kyiv by Nazi forces the museum was under the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce.

Its staff, including Hungarian archaeologist Nandor Fettich, packed the collections located in Kyiv Pechersk Lavra to remove it to Germany.

With the liberation of Kyiv by the Soviet Army in November 1943 the museum started to resume its work.

[citation needed] It has since mounted exhibitions about the Trypillia culture, the Church of the Tithes, the Holodomor, and the history of jewellery in Ukraine.

[2] In 2008 the museum put on the exhibition “Ukraine – Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (XVII-XVIII Centuries)”.

[citation needed] Items have been loaned for exhibitions held in Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.

The rebranded name is intended to showcase the new path taken by the museum as a bridge between past and future, between different people and cultures.

[4] In April 2024, 274 archaeological artifacts, including 115 coins that were smuggled out of Ukraine, went on display at the museum.

Estonian border guards had intercepted these items, and Estonia subsequently repatriated them to Ukraine.

Designed by architect Joseph Karakis, it was built in 1937–1939 to house the Shevchenko State Art School.

[7] The Kyiv City Teacher's House displays the original three statutory acts of the Central Rada, and documents and personal items of the leaders of the Ukrainian Revolution.

[citation needed] The Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine is located within the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex.

The museum holds the Golden Pectoral from Tovsta Mohyla, and a collection of Jewish ritual silver from the 18th- to the 20th-century.