The museum was founded in February 1905 by the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky as a private foundation called the Church Museum for the Development of Ukrainian Culture. The funds were based on the personal collection of the founder, who donated about 10,000 items and kept the museum at his own expense. Today, the museum has more than 100,000 items, representing the age-old traditions of Ukrainian art and national culture. The subject of special pride is the largest and most complete collection in Ukraine of medieval Ukrainian sacred art of the XII-XVIII centuries. These are icons, sculpture, manuscripts and old prints, decorative carvings, metal sculptures and embroidered church fabrics. The icon of the XIV-XVIII centuries, mostly from the territory of Western Ukraine, is most multifaceted in the museum's collection. Valuable monuments of written culture are concentrated in the collection of manuscripts and old prints, the formation of which began with the founding of the museum. The collection was based on samples donated by Metropolitan A. Sheptytsky. The development of Ukrainian art of the XIX - early XX centuries is represented by a collection of paintings by artists of the Dnieper and Western Ukraine. The pride of the museum collection is a number of original works by Taras Shevchenko. Collections of works of folk art deserve special attention. These are products made of ceramics, bone, metal, fabric, embroidery, wood carving, folk clothing, Easter eggs, embroideries, painting on glass.