Category: 
Sites of Imprisonment

Sretenskaya Prison

Address: 16, 3rd Kolobovskii Lane (previously 3rd Znamenskii Lane), Moscow

Sretenskiy police house on the 3rd Znamenskiy Lane. Source: Album of the buildings, which belong to the administration of the city of Moscow. T. 1. S. 213

Sretenskii Police Station on 3rd Znamenskii Lane. Source: Album of the buildings, which belong to the Moscow city administration. T. 1. S. 213

The Sretenskaya Prison (or Sretenskii Arrest House) became one of Moscow’s most important prisons in 1917. It was located in the former Sretenskii Police Station and was built for prisoners sentenced to terms of less than six months.

The Sretenskii Arrest House received various types of prisoners: men and women, petty criminals, and habitual offenders. The prison's capacity was around 250 inmates. A school for illiterates, a library, a club for “reading aloud,” a political club, a musical club, a choir, and a chess club were organized in the prison. Facilities for gluing envelopes, tailoring, shoemaking, and carpentry workshops existed there as well.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the Sretenskaya Prison was used primarily as a site of imprisonment for those who were arrested by the police. As of 1935, no less than 225 places were made for those deemed to be threats to state security. The Sretenskaya Prison was actively used during the Great Terror.