The Royal Arsenal, an early Baroque building with an internal courtyard, dating from 1638-43, was built at the initiative of King Wladyslaw IV.
In the times of the Polish Kingdom it was the School of Artillery and Engineering Officers. Expanded in the 19th century and redesigned in the Classicist style in 1816-20.
It was the scence of heavy fightings during the November Uprising which began the night of November 29/30, 1830 in Warsaw.
The armed struggle began when a group of conspirators led by a young cadet from the Warsaw officers' school, Piotr Wysocki, took arms from their garrison and attacked the Belweder Palace, the main seat of the Grand Duke.
The final spark that ignited Warsaw was a Russian plan to use the Polish Army to suppress France's July Revolution and the Belgian Revolution, in clear violation of the Polish constitution.
The rebels managed to enter the Belweder, but Grand Duke Constantine had escaped in woman's clothing.
The rebels then turned to the main city arsenal, capturing it after a brief struggle. The following day, armed Polish civilians forced the Russian troops to withdraw north of Warsaw.
This incident is sometimes called the Warsaw Uprising or the November Night.

Today it houses The State Archeological Museum.