The history of museology in Kayseri dates back to the late Ottoman period. After Osman Hamdi Bey, the founder of museology in Ottoman Empire, sent a notice to the provinces requesting that the most important portable artefacts be sent to İstanbul and the others be collected in schools suitable for preservation, many artefacts collected around Kayseri were placed under protection in a room of Kayseri High School. In 1928, during a visit to Kayseri, Esat Bey, the Minister of National Education, saw these artefacts and discussed the establishment of a museum with Fuat Bey, the Governor of Kayseri. Through the efforts of Governor Fuat Bey, the museum was opened on 1 March 1930 in the Hunat Hatun Madrasah and operated as a "depot museum" until 1937. After the chronological and scientific classification of the works, the museum was opened to the public in 1938 with an entrance fee of 5 Kuruş. In 1948, with the beginning of systematic excavations in the ancient city of Kanesh - Kültepe, located 22 km. northeast of Kayseri, the number of artifacts increased and caused difficulties in providing space in the museum's exhibition and storage areas, so a new museum building was built in 1965 and opened to visitors in 1969. As this building also became inadequate over time, it was decided to move the museum to the new building to be constructed in the Inner Castle of Kayseri. The museum building, whose construction and restoration works were started by Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality in 2013, was completed and handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2019. The new museum was opened to visitors in 2019. The museum has a total of 13 exhibition halls consisting of Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, Tablet, Assyrian Trade Colonies, Hittite, Late Hittite, Archaic-Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman halls. The artefacts found in the Kültepe Karum/Kanesh archaeological site are the most prominent artefacts of the museum. The museum also has a temporary exhibition hall where temporary exhibitions are held.