It is located in the historic building known as the Red Castle of Tripoli (Arabic: السراي الحمراء, romanized: al-Sarāy al-Ḥamrāʼ), sometimes also referred to as Red Saraya, on the promontory above and adjacent to the old-town district with medina Ghadema.

Designed in conjunction with UNESCO, the museum covers 5,000 years from prehistory to the independence revolution (1953) era.

The building was renovated in the early 1920s on plans by Armando Brasini, who designed its characteristic arches.

[4] In 2011 the museum was closed due to security concerns following the Libyan Civil War and subsequent unrest.

[5][6] During the 2011 war, rebels entered the museum and a few items belonging to Muammar Gaddafi were damaged.