Arbat Street
The council holds its sessions within the Main Building on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street in Moscow, the former home of the Soviet State Building Agency (Gosstroy), with further offices and committee rooms located on Novy Arbat Street. The two houses of the Federal Assembly are physically separated, with the State Duma residing in another part of Moscow on Okhotny Ryad Street. Sessions of the Federation Council take place in Moscow from January 25 to July 15, and from September 16 to December 31. Sessions are open to the public, although the location of sessions can change if the Federation Council so desires, and secure closed sessions may be convoked.