The building which serves as the Hôtel de Ville (town hall) of Narbonne, was designated a monument historique by the French government in 1840.

[1] The palace was originally intended to provide residential accommodation for the Archbishops of Nabonne and was erected to the southwest of Narbonne Cathedral.

[4] The other components, from left to right, were a castellated section with five tall arches, the Tour Saint-Martial (Saint Martial Tower) of 1347, a section with a carriageway arch through it, leading to the Passage de l'Ancre, and on the right, the Tour de la Madeleine (Magdeleine Tower), which also dated from the 14th century.

Internally, the conversion created a Salle du Conseil (council chamber), a series of committee rooms and some museum space.

[6][7] After the Second World War, the Palais Vieux (Old Palace), which had served as a prison in the 19th century and as a school in the first half of the 20th century, was fitted out to accommodate the archaeological exhibits of the Musée Archéologique, while items of local history were placed on display in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in the Palais Neuf (New Palace).