The building of the Archaeological Museum of Istria (AMI) is located within the historical core of Pula, on the eastern slope of the main city hill, at the top of which stands a 17th-century Venetian fortress.

The building was raised to house the former German-language State Gymnasium during the period of the Austro-Hungarian administration of Pula. It was designed in 1890 by architect Natale Tommasi. Architecturally, the building is an example of the historicist style with a prominent symmetrical façade, tall windows, and minimal decorative features. It was repurposed in 1930 as the Royal Museum (Regio Museo dell’Istria), successor to the Civic Museum (Museo Civico) founded in 1902. These were succeeded in 1947 by the Archaeological Museum of Istria.

The AMI building is located in an area exceptionally rich in archaeological strata, which symbolically connects it with its primary purpose; the investigation and preservation of Istrian heritage. In prehistory it was the site of an Iron Age Histrian hillfort, and today's building was erected above the remains of a Histrian house with preserved floors and hearths. An urn necropolis of the same period was also discovered in the immediate vicinity.

In antiquity the area of today's AMI building was inside the city walls of the Roman colony of Pola, near the Twin Gates, at the site of a former portico that was part of the Small Roman Theatre, and a domus, the foundations of which are visible in its surroundings to this day.