Central State Historical Library

Address: ul. Pskovskaia 18
Metro: Nowhere near any metro station. Best reached by marshrutka down Sadovaya (e.g. no. 212) to ploshchad' Repina (can also be reached by marshrutka from Narvskaya stantsiya metro). The trams (e.g. no. 3) tend to get stuck on Sadovaya. Possible to walk from Tekhnologicheskii institut in reasonable weather, but it would take c. 30 minutes.

Web: https://spbarchives.ru/web/group/cgia
Email: cgia@cgia.spbarchives.ru
Phone: (812) 495-29-61

Archive Director: Shelukhina Irina Borisovna
Chief Archivist: Perekalina Maria Mikhailovna

Opening Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 1100-1300
Friday: 1000-1600

Sanitarnye dni are the last two working days of each month. The archive is occasionally open on Saturdays to compensate for prazdniki. Call to check.

The archive is closed in August.

To register, readers need a letter from their institution or a personal spravka about their research (theme, dates and aims) and their passport.

Advance orders can be made by email or phone at least a week before you arrive. As of May 2015, the archive required readers to prebook their places, owing to the pressure on places.

Some material is microfilmed. The charming archivist tends to apologise for the quality of the readers, but they are OK. Computer use is permitted off the ordinary electricity system, but it may be as well to take an adapter (troinik) so that you can also use a light. The reading room was redecorated in the mid-2000s, there is an excellent systematic catalogue, the staff are exceptionally helpful, and the place is altogether a pleasure to use except for the fact that there is great pressure on space. You need to turn up early in the morning to be sure of finding one of only 20 seats.