The museum was founded in Grodno on July 7, 1977 as the Republican Museum of Atheism and History of Religion, and opened for visitors on January 15, 1985. On August 12, 2005 the museum was granted its current name.
The museum is the only one of this type in the Republic of Belarus. The objective of the museum is the acquaintance with the history and culture of the people living in Belarus, the development of respect for religious views and of tolerance to the representatives of various nationalities and confessions.
The exposition of the museum consists of archaeological materials, monuments of decorative and applied art of the 13th - 20th centuries, works of visual art, as well as gravures, old printed books, musical instruments reflecting the cultural role of archaic beliefs, Christian confessions. In total, the museum has 13 exposition halls with about 67 thousand units of storage, which make up 14 collections. There are permanent exhibitions " The Culture and Archaic Beliefs of the Ancient Inhabitants of the Belarusian Lands", "The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ", as well as "Epoch. Time. Building", revealing the history of the palace where the museum is located.