Metric Books

Metric books of churches - this is a book of records of birth and baptism,marriage and death. They were filled with that priest who crowned, baptized and served the parishioners of his parish. Metric books began to be conducted in churches no earlier than 1722. Each book consisted of three parts, containing the following information:

• about birth - date of birth and baptism, name and surname, place of residence and religion of parents and godparents, legality and illegality of birth;


• about marriage - name, surname, place of residence, nationality, religion of the bride and groom, at what age do they marry, the date of the wedding, the names and names of the witnesses;


• about death - name, surname, place of residence, age of the deceased, date and cause of death, burial place.

The metric books were kept in duplicate: one was heading
for storage in the archives of the consistory (institution with church-administrative
and judicial functions, which was subordinate to the diocesan bishop), the second -
remained in the church. Metric books were kept in church parishes until
1918 (in some areas until 1921), then registration of acts
civil status was transferred to the local civil registry offices
bodies of executive power.



Records of acts of civil status in the synagogues were conducted according to approximately the same schemes
(birth, circumcision, marriage, death).



Under the laws of the former USSR and most CIS countries, metric
books for 75 years are stored in the registry office, and then transferred
in the state archives for permanent storage.


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