Central Archive of Social-Political History of Moscow

Address: Ul. Medzhdunarodnaia, 10

Metro: Ploshchad' Il'icha or Rimskaia

Take the Rimskaia exit and turn right out of the perekhod. The archive is on the right hand side of the road, through a small courtyard with a church in it. Walk left past the church.

Web: http://mosarchiv.mos.ru/

Email: mosarh@post.mos.ru

Phone: (499) 764-27-73

Archive Director: Valentina Viacheslavovna Nikanorova

Chief archivist: Lidia Sergeevna Naumova

Opening Hours: Monday and Wednesday: 1000- 1700

Friday: 1000 - 1600 NB.

The archive usually closes about 1630 every day.

Visit the archive and call Lidia Sergeevna on the internal phone when you arrive. She will give you a propusk and get you past the militsioner, who is often listening to 80s soft rock.

On your first visit, you will receive a computer printout of relevant fondy based on your tema, or you can use the incomplete and unfinished spravochnik "Tsentral'nye arkhivy Moskvy", which is also available online. At this point, you can order opisi which, although housed in a cupboard at the back of the reading room, you will not receive for another week. Once you are ready to order material, make sure that, if you want to order from more than one fond, you do so on separate sheets for each. Again, you'll have to wait a week to see your files. And you need to surrender all of your dela before you can make a new order, which is annoying if you have one or two left at the end of a day. Although ArcheoBiblioBase states the average wait is two working days, allow a week. The maximum order is 10 dela BUT sometimes you can order more because it's generally understood that you won't receive everything you order. But sometimes if you put more down, Lidia Sergeevna will ask what you think you're doing. 

NB. As of summer 2011, Lidia Sergeevna has been absent and a different woman is running the reading room.

Researchers should bear in mind that they are unlikely to receive all of the files they order due to the city of Moscow's strict rules on privacy. There is no stolovaia, but outside Rimskaia station you can buy blini or a really dodgy shaurma.

Lidia Sergeevna has been known to send dela back, if you do not "show adequate commitment".