The museum is housed in a palace which is on of the oldest buildings of the Portuguese in the oriental style. Unique form the historical and architectural point of view. This was build around 1555 A.D. by the Portuguese and presented to vira kerala varma in order to pacify him and to compensate having blunder a temple in the vicinity of the palace. Since then it served as a seat of the royal house and around 1665A.D. it under went a major repair at the hands of the Dutch and hence the palace represents a blending of the European and indigenous ideas of architecture.
The glory of the palace lies in its mural paintings covering a total area of nearly 300sq.m. They have been done in there phases. The themes depict scenes from the Ramayana, Krishna, Durga, etc. the paintings reflect the contemporary arts, literature and social graces and from a precious heirloom of kerala’s past. They also compare well with the coeval wood crafts carvings in figure-work and facial moulds and combine aesthetic purpose with realism.
The palace also houses museum. The exhibits are mainly of portraits of the cochin Rajas, there palanquins, Dress, Weapons, Umbrellas, Carpets etc