The building which houses the national customs Museum, is part of a unique architectural ensemble of the Exchange area – perhaps the ultimate symbol of Bordeaux.

The basis of this ensemble consists of two long buildings, built in the first half of the eighteenth century. So, the building of the former customs house, which houses the Museum, was built in 1733 inherent in that time the Baroque style by the architect Jacques Gabriel. Building on Exchange square is decorated with statues of ancient gods, which patronages science and Commerce – Athena and Hermes.

The customs Museum in the Palace was opened in 1984. Currently it has a collection of about 12 thousand exhibits, among which can be seen including various confiscated, seized from smugglers trading in the distant past. Among the confiscated items – fossilized dinosaur egg, musical instruments, ivory, works of art, which tried to import or export from the country illegally – for example, a fake painting by Salvador Dali "the Creation". In addition, the Museum displays uniforms and weapons of the customs, models of merchant ships, sculptures and jewels, a true work of Claude Monet "the Hut of a customs officer", fake money, fixtures scams (e.g., flat, curved metal jar in which traders illegally smuggled alcohol, tying the tank to the belly under her clothes), and more.

This Museum, which tells about the trading history of Bordeaux – third by value and turnover of the port of the country, called unique among the museums of France. He also talks about the work of the contemporary French customs officers, not only about their colleagues XVIII-XIX centuries.