In Bilbao's Miguel de Unamuno Square stands the Basque Museum.

According to its informational website, "the conservation and dissemination of the objects that make up its collections and that bear witness to the ways of life that the Basque people have established over the millennia is the guiding principle of its cultural operations."

The institution, originally known as the Museo Arqueológico de Vizcaya y Etnográfico Vasco, first welcomed visitors on July 3, 1921. It now occupies the ground floor of the Baroque cloister of the former Colegio de San Andrés, which belonged to the Jesuits until their expulsion from Spain in 1767. The Jesuit school's former church, Santos Juanes, which is now a parish church for regular It was initially supported by the Bilbao City Council and the Biscay Provincial Council.

The museum gradually took over the annex buildings and expanded its collections, which now include material on Basque Country ethnohistory and Biscayan archaeology. Both the museological and museographic aspects of the museum are now being renovated. Due to its contrast with the architecture of the historic building in which it is located, the opening of a new main entrance to the Plaza Miguel de Unamuno marks the beginning of this remodelling and the most noticeable feature for visitors. The museum provides membership in the Friends of the Museum programme, research, library, and photo library services, in addition to the collections that are accessible to the general public.

It has been designated as a National Historic-Artistic Monument Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) since 1962.

The Vallo+Irigaray studio from Pamplona was named the winner of the architectural and museum competition to renovate the Basque Museum in the Old Quarter on June 17, 2020.

Complete renovation

The Ethnographic Museum and the Archaeological Museum revealed their integrated refurbishment plans on July 2, 2021, the 100th anniversary of its opening. It will take on the building makeover and the museographic plan for 15 million euros.

The four floors that make up the permanent displays are as follows:
Ground level

tombstone- and heraldic-adorned halls. A shop and an area designated for temporary exhibitions are also located on this floor. A Nestor Basterretxea sculpture that is on loan from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is located at the entryway.

The idol of Mikeldi from Durango is located in the centre of the cloister. The grass surface was replaced with a stone floor in 2016 to prevent further moisture damage to the sculpture, and a glass roof covering the courtyard was finished in June 2018. The more open space of the museum was used for more purposes as a result of this alteration.

A four-meter-tall replica of the Kurutziaga cross, the original of which can be seen in the town of Durango and dates back to the 15th century, can be found in the stairwell leading to the first level.
initial floor

exhibits on firearms, the Basques and the sea, pastoral culture, and domestic textile and ceramic arts (with special display cases on the Civil War and the Carlist Wars) (linen and wool).

Above the stairwell landing, a sizable Ignacio Zuloaga portrait hangs.
Secondly story

rooms devoted to Biscay's prehistory and archaeology.
Third story

A set of wooden benches with red velvet upholstery from the late 18th century, whose design is attributed to Luis Paret, who lived in Bilbao for a number of years after being exiled from Madrid by Charles III, can be found in the rooms of the Consulate of Bilbao, along with other artefacts from that institution.

A huge scale model of the province is also located on this floor.