The main collections of the museum are kept in the building of the Church of Pentecost. The museum also includes the necropolis of Kazan khans located at the foot of Soyembika tower and the tower itself.
Various theme exhibitions are held in the lower hall of the church. The permanent exposition devoted to the history of the state institutions of the Middle Volga is in the upper hall of the church.
At the museum there are exhibits dating back to the period from 2 century B.C. to 9 century A.D. The bronze Hunnic cauldrons of 4 century A.D., which were discovered on the territory of Tatarstan, are the monument of that historical epoch.
The period of Turkic khaganates was an important stage in the consolidation of the state known as Volga Bulgaria. The state existed to 1552 when it was conquered by Ivan the Terrible and then annexed to the Russian state. There one can see the throne and the Kazan Cap, the symbols of sovereign power of Kazan khans.
There is also a rather big exposition devoted to the modern history of Tatarstan covering the period from 1917 to our days. In the central hall of the museum one can see the film about the events, which happened on the territory of Tatarstan in the period from 1917 to our days.
