The name of the museum is associated with the archbishop D.Diogo de Sousa (1461 – 1532) who was responsible for renovating and remodeling the city of Braga and for collecting and preserving its oldest archaeological remnants.

The first initiatives for the protection of Braga's archaeological heritage were taken by D.Diogo de Sousa and it is with his name that the Museum is associated.
Between the 16th ant 19th centuries there were a number of attempts to create a museum but it was not until 1918 that the “Museum of the History of Art and Archaeology” was established. Unfortunately, due to adverse circumstances, the museum did not function regularly until 1980 when it was revitalized as the Regional Museum of Archaeology. Since then it has focused its activity on the preservation and exhibition of local and regional archaeological patrimony.
It is administered by the Institute of Museums and Conservation and the Ministry of Culture and is part of the Portuguese Network of Museums and the Atlantic Axis Museums.