not only does the archive house a collection of great historical importance to the city, but it is surrounded by a plethora of important cultural sites, as is located in the bustling and culturally significant centro neighborhood of rio de janeiro - over the years, the institution experienced a number changes and challenges - a fire in 1790 destroyed part of the collections.

nowadays the archive is comprised of a number of separate departments, which includes textual documents, comprising of handwritten and printed documents, special documents, ranging from the traditional maps, city plans, pictures and drawing, to more modern types, such as photographs, films, tapes, and cd's, and private collections.