Built in 1995 by the architect Pierre-Louis Faloci, the museum paints a portrait of Bibracte, an ephemeral city, in the light of the latest archaeological discoveries.

The upper gallery, which forms the first part of the permanent exhibition, presents the two hundred or so oppida (fortified towns) that suddenly took over the Celtic world towards the end of the 2nd century BC. At the end of the Iron Age, this original urban phenomenon suddenly transformed a vast area of Europe into a territory structured by a network of towns, of which Bibracte is one of the most studied examples.

On the ground floor, the exhibition examines the various aspects of Bibracte's archaeological record - its ramparts, quarters, craftsmen's workshops, houses and public spaces, etc. - to show that the evolution of the oppidum bears witness to a radical change at a key moment in history: between the founding of Bibracte and its abandonment a century later, Gaul became Roman.