Since the first excavations in the 19th century, the significant archaeological heritage in the Pla de l'Estany has been revealed. And it is here that some of the most outstanding archaeological sites in Catalonia are found. The results of this work carried out in the region are brought together in the Banyoles Regional Archaeological Museum. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Museum houses one of the most important collections of palaeontology and archaeology in Catalonia.

The Museum officially opened in 1943 and since then has been housed in the Gothic palace of Pia Almoina. From 2000 to 2009, the museum was refurbished, bringing it up-to-date with modern museum standards. Currently, the Banyoles Regional Archaeological Museum has three permanent exhibition rooms (the Palaeontology, Prehistory and History rooms) that allow you to take a tour from the upper Tertiary period until the 18th century.

In the Palaeontology room, highlights include fossils of large animals from the Tertiary period and the Quaternary periods, such as the skull of a saber-toothed tiger from the archaeological site at Incarcal. The Prehistory room gives pride of place to the Neanderthal jaw bone from Banyoles found in the Pla de la Formiga in 1887 and also displays several pieces from the Neolithic settlements of La Draga and the Caves of Serinyà.
 
The History room explains what the Pla de l’Estany was like through the finds made principally in the Iberian village of Mas Castell de Porqueres and the Roman villa of Vilauba. In terms of the Medieval-Modern period, the display focuses mainly on the old town of Banyoles.