Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts

Address: 119817, Moscow, ul. Bol'shaia Pirogovskaia, 17
Metro: Fruzenskaia

Turn left out of metro, the archive is about ten minutes walk, in the same complex as GARF. When in the complex, follow the dvor around to the left. On the right is a yellow building. This is RGADA. Go through the archway and in the doors directly in front of you. The reading room is on the first floor, along the corridor to the left of the stairwell.

Web: http://www.rusarchives.ru/federal/rgada/
Email: rgada@archives.ru rgada@mail.ru
Phone: (499) 580-87-23 Fax: (499) 246-50-91
Archive Director: Mikhail Rafailovich Ryzhenkov  Chief archivist: The archive is divided into sections, each with its own head archivist. The person you are most likely to need is the head of the reading room, Aleksandr Ivanovich Gamaiunov.

Opening Hours: Monday and Wednesday: 1200-2000
Tuesday and Thursday: 1000- 1730 Friday: 1000- 1600
The sanitarnyi den' is the first working day of the month. The archive is usually closed for much of January and during August.

At the main entrance the door on your right just before the militsiia check is the propusk office. Give them your introductory letter and your passport. They will give you a one-day (razovii) propusk. When you get to the RGADA reading room front desk, they will ask you to fill out a form (in Russian). Your permanent pass will then be ready at the propusk office the next morning. If you need to take a laptop in, tell them this when you collect it, and they will stamp the back of your propusk. Propuski are valid until the end of the calendar year in which they were applied for. If you need to renew your propusk, you will need another letter.

Forms are available at the reading room desk. You may currently order 3 documents per day. You need to provide your name, topic, the fond, opis' and document numbers, and the date and a brief title for the document. Average wait: If ordered on the Monday, documents will be ready on Wednesday morning. The maximum order is 3 files a day. You may keep up to 10 files on hold. You may keep ordering even if you have documents on hold.

There are plenty of sockets for laptops. Desks also have lamps. Mobile phones should be used only at the bottom of the main stairwell. Documents should be touched as little as possible. Paper should be used to keep a barrier between your fingers and the manuscript. You may not be able to see all documents. If your order form returns with the note 'vetkhii' on it, it means that the document is too fragile to be used. Sometimes an archivist can take a look at it for you and give you general information about it. But don't expect too much from this procedure. Opisi are on open shelves. They often get misshelved. If you cannot find it, there may be a microfilm. If not, you will need to search all the shelves to prove that it is not there, and then they will lend you the archivist's copy for a brief period. The archive can get very busy, You need to come in early to guarantee a seat, especially if you need to work with microfilm. There is a stolovaia in the main dvor. As you exit the entrance building, you will see a grey building on your left, and a yellow building in front of you. Follow the dvor round to your left. At the corner of the grey building there is a stolovaia sign. The stolovaia is in the basement.