Our Russian State Historical Archives in St.Petersburg

 

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About the Archives

 

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About the Archives

 

Senate Square is one of the most beautiful and remarkable places of St.Petersburg. The most attractive point here is the monument to Peter the Great by Etienne Maurice Falconet, known all over the world as the Bronze Horseman. The magnificent buildings of the former Senate and Synod and the former residence of the count Lavalle serve as a beautiful background to the monument, as it were. The residence of the Lavalle family was built in the end of the 18th century by the outstanding architect Thomas de Thomon, and the buildings for the Senate and Synod were erected in the 1830s after the design by Carlo Rossi. Many tourists from all parts of Russia and from abroad visit the square every day to admire the monument and the beautiful buildings surrounding the square. But scarcely one of them knows what priceless treasures are kept behind the walls of these impressive buildings. Now these buildings house the Russian State Historical Archives. In its funds there are more than 6.5 million files with documents related to the political, economical and cultural life of Russia from the end of the 18th up to the beginning of the 20th centuries. Among them are materials connected with the activities of the State Council, Duma, Council of Ministers, Committee of Ministers, Ruling Senate and Synod, ministries, public organizations and philanthropic societies, as well as private documents of statesmen, public figures, clergymen, men-of-letters, architects, artists, composers, actors and etc. There are unique collection of autographs of notable persons in the Archives.

 

The rarities kept in the Russian State Historical Archives in St.Petersburg:

State military banner. Alexander Fadeyev.
Watercolours on paper. 29.5 x 22.5 cm.

Box containing the manifesto The Full State Coat-of-arms of Russian Empire by Paul I. 1800.
Wood decorated with metal. 45.5 x 65.5 x 12 cm.

Salutory address of the St.Petersburg Duma to the Ruling Senate on the occasion ofits two-hundredth anniversary.
Binding of the leather decorated with enamel and silver. 58.5 x 42 cm.

General view and the plan of the Siy Monastery in Kholmogory District. 1797. From the Atlas of the Arkhangelsk Region.
Fiodor Kisilov. Watercolours on paper. 96.5 x 61 cm.

The 16th volume of the Code of the Coats-of-arms of Russian Empire of the time of the ruling of Nicholas II.
Silk binding embroidered with silver threads, metal mounting with enamelled plates. 44 x 33 x 14 cm.

Detail of the score to the ballet Sleeping Beauty by Piotr Tchaikovsky. Autograph by the composer.

Ceremonial uniform for the 1st rank clerks of the State Council. Confirmed by Nocholas I in 1834.
Watercolours on paper. 30 x 40 cm.

Certificate for the title of count given to Yegor Kankrin, Minister of Finances (1774-1845), confirmed by Nicholas I in 1829.
Binding of velvet embroidered with silver threads. 63 x 48 cm.

 

 

The Russia Historical Heritage Defence Group
rgia@narod.ru

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