The Senate and Synod were originally housed in the Twelve Collegia building. The first building on the site of the current Senate and Synod buildings was the half-timbered house of His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov. After his disgrace, the house on the Neva embankment became the property of Vice-Chancellor A. I. Osterman, and in 1744 it was granted by Elizaveta Petrovna to Chancellor A. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, for whom the building was erected in the Baroque style. In 1763, after Catherine II ascended to the throne, the Bestuzhev-Ryumin house was transferred to the treasury, and the Senate moved into this building, rebuilt by the architect A. F. Vist. In the 1780-1790s, the baroque house of Bestuzhev-Ryumin was rebuilt again, and its facades received a new architectural treatment, typical of Russian classicism. The name of the author of the building reconstruction project remains unknown. Judging by the drawing of the western facade of the building preserved in the collection of the Museum of the Academy of Arts, the project was developed by the architect I. E. Starov.

In the XVIII century, the house of the merchant Kusovnikova was located on the site of the current Synod building.

The Senate and the Synod are two separate buildings united by a common compositional solution in the form of a triumphal arch. The arch symbolized the unity of the church and the state, it was decorated with a sculptural group "Justice and Piety". Bas-reliefs and high reliefs around the triumphal arch show the history of Russian legislation, this is the bas-relief "Civil Law", busts of Peter I and Catherine II, the bas-relief "Law of God", the bas-relief "Natural Law".

In 1925-2006, these buildings housed the Russian State Historical Archive. Since May 2008, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has been located in the wing of the former Senate, and since 2009, the Presidential Library named after B.N. Yeltsin has been located in the wing of the Synod, where the patriarch's chambers and the head of state's office have been allocated.

Senate Square, which is located in front of the Senate and Synod Building, has changed its name three times. Initially, it was called Senate Square, but after the Bronze Horseman was installed in the center of the square in 1782, it was renamed Peter's Square. In 1925, it was again renamed Decembrist Square to honor the memory of the Decembrist Uprising, which took place in 1825. And in 2008 the square was again called Senate Square.

To visit the Presidential Library named after B.N. Yeltsin, you must submit an application for a visit in advance at the website.