The permanent exhibition of the Centre for the Interpretation of the Old Town Monument under the title Destruction and Reconstruction of the Old Town presents the fate of Warsaw's Old Town from before, during and after World War II. It focuses on its reconstruction and its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Reconstruction of the Old Town began in 1949, and the ceremonial handover of the almost entirely reconstructed Old Town took place just five years later. This effort and the enthusiasm of the architects was recognised by UNESCO with the inscription of Warsaw's Old Town on the Heritage List in September 1980. It was the first item on the list to be a historical reconstruction. It was an expression of great respect and admiration for the Polish architects, conservators, historians and art historians who undertook the work, unprecedented in history, of reconstructing the almost completely ruined historic centre of the city.

The tour of the exhibition begins with a fragment of an Old Town wall discovered by archaeologists. Then, after a brief introduction to the history of Warsaw and a historical calendar of the Old Town, you learn about the fate of the Old Town before World War II.