Russian Pilgrims of the 12th–18th Centuries about “The Sweet Land of Cyprus”

Abstract

The era of the Crusades was an era of pilgrims and pilgrimages to Jerusalem. The Russian Orthodox world did not accept the idea of the Crusades and did not consider the Western European crusaders to be pilgrims. However, Russian people also sought to make pilgrimages, whose purpose for them was personal repentance and worship of the Lord. Visiting the Christian relics of Cyprus was desirable for pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. Based on the method of content analysis of the whole complex of works of Russian pilgrims, as well as the works of Cypriot, Byzantine, Arab, and Russian chroniclers, the author explores the history of travels and pilgrimages of Russian people to Cyprus between the 12 th and 18 th centuries, the origins of the Russian-Cypriot religious, intercultural, and political relations, as well as the dynamics of their development from the first contacts in the Middle Ages to the establishment of permanent diplomatic and political relations between the two countries in the Early Modern Age. Starting with the 17 th century, the history of the Russian-Cypriot relations was developing in three fields: 1) Russians in Cyprus; 2) Cypriots in Russia; 3) knowledge of Cyprus and interest in Cyprus in Russia. The Cypriots appeared in Russia (at the court of the Russian tsars) in the early 17 th century. It is known that there was constant correspondence and exchange of embassies between the Russian tsars and the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus that took place between the 17 th and 18 th centuries. The appearance of the Cypriots in Russia, the acquisition of information, the study of Cypriot literature, as well as translations of some Cypriot stories into Russian all promoted interaction on both political and cultural levels. This article emphasises the great historical, cultural, diplomatic, and political functions of the pilgrimages of the era of the Middle Ages and Modern History.