The museum is a part of Lviv National Art Gallery. It was opened in November, 1986, in the house which was a place of residence for Shashkevych's grandfather. The museum complex consists of renovated house containing the exposition, a barn, a shpykhlir (local type of a larder) and a cellar; some historical items are preserved outside the house: the well, a part of a garden and several old oaks.

Markiyan Shashkevych was a famous Ukrainian poet, writer, cultural and political activist. He was born 6 November in 1811 (Pidlyssya village) in the family of a priest. He got his school education in Bily Kamin, Lviv and Berezhany; graduated from Lviv theological seminary; attended the department of philosophy in Lviv University as a non-degree student. The writer was famous for becoming one of the founders of 'Ruska Triytsya' (Ruthenian Triad), which appeared to be a significant literary and educational movement of the time. The other founders were Yakiv Holovatsky and Ivan Vahylevych. In 1837 they published abroad a revolutionary almanac Rusalka Dnistrova (the Mermaid of the Dniester), which was the first collection of Ukrainian literature to appear in Western Ukraine. Shashkevych worked as a priest in different places, where he actively promoted studying Ukrainian language and history. He died 7 June in 1843 (Novosilky village). In 1893 the grave of M. Shashkevych was moved to Lychakiv Cemetery.

The museum exposition takes six rooms. Two first ones display handwritten and printed documents and photographs having to do with the life and public activities of the poet. There are also works of his authoring or co-authoring. The originally published copy of Rusalka Dnistrova (1837) has its own important place in the exhibition. That book became the first Ukrainian language publication from Galicia.

Four other rooms show the interior of the Western Ukrainian house of the early 19th century, which in particular where the times of Shashkevych's childhood. You can see there what the kitchen of those times was like (there is an authentic stove, furniture and household items), the entrance hall, the working place and the chamber (bedroom).

Nearby the house, there's a bust of Markiyan Shashkevych (the sculptor — D. Kravchych).