The Historic Archives of the City of Barcelona (AHCB) is the institution in charge of custody, preservation, treatment and dissemination of historical documents generated by the government of the city since the 13th century, when the Barcelona municipal government was created, and until the liberal revolution of the mid-19th century.

Over time, a wide range of archival materials, bibliographic and newspaper collections of historical interest have been incorporated and it has become one of the most important archival centres of Catalonia and an essential reference for historians.

From the 1920s the headquarters of the archive has been the , a building resulting from the restructuring of different properties built on top of a segment of the old Roman wall. In the Gothic-Renaissance style, it also incorporates modernista elements. In the 1990s, it was the subject of a major refurbishment to modernise the facilities and was adapted for the conservation and consultation of documents.

Currently the holdings and collections of the historical archive of the city of Barcelona are divided into three main sections: documentary collections, the library and the newspaper library.