The administrative seat of the Idrija Municipal Museum is situated in the Idrija Gewerkenegg Castle that was built in the first half of the 16th century and served as the administrative centre of the second biggest mercury mine in the world for more than 400 years.
The castle complex hosts a permanent exhibition called “Five centuries of the mercury mine and Idrija town”. In 1997, the exhibition won the Museum the award of the Luigi Micheletti Foundation for the best European Museum of the Industrial and Technical Heritage, granted by the European Museum Forum.
The Museum manages numerous technical and cultural monuments in the Idrija and Cerkno regions.