Matej's house was built in 1479 as a "tenement house" with five floors

At the time of its completion, it was the tallest profane building in Hungary. Originally, the coat of arms of the Miners' Brotherhood of God's Body, which initiated the construction of the house and the Miners' Bastion, was placed on its facade. However, the name Matej house was probably obtained on the basis of two coats of arms, which are located on its facade. One is the coat of arms of King Matej Korvín and the other is the city coat of arms. The house was used for a variety of purposes, such as storing gunpowder and weapons, there was also a handmill and a grain store, and it also served as a place to store the valuables of the townspeople. In 1971, Matej's house was damaged by a fire and since then it has been decaying for more than a hundred years. From 1889, it became the seat of the City Museum. In 1909, the museum exhibition was ceremonially opened to the public and contained more than 4,500 exhibits. Matej's house was closed to the public at the end of the 1950s and became a depository for collection items. It was opened again to the public only after extensive reconstruction for the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first exposition of the City Museum.

Currently, visitors to Matej's house can see the original permanent exhibition, which represents 2,863 collection items from the collections of the Central Slovak Museum. The museum exhibit includes a jewellery store, an archaeological exhibit with a replica of a Slavic half-earthen house and a collection of medieval tiles. The history of crafts is presented with more than 700 collection items from the environment of the Banská Bystrica guilds. Part of the exhibition is also dedicated to important personalities and mayors of Banská Bystrica. The museum also houses an exhibition of Gothic sculpture and painting, which represents unique items of Slovak and European significance.