The everyday life of the Pskov borderland at the dawn of the Peter the Great era

Abstract

The subject of the study is the daily routine of the Pskov border region in the description of foreign travelers who visited the Russian state at the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great. The testimonies of travelers, diplomats and the military allow to trace the first changes related to the road infrastructure, the attitude towards foreigners and the way of life of the local population observed in the last quarter of the XVII century. The impression that the Pskov road made on travelers often left its indelible imprint on the entire perception of the Russian state by foreigners, and through numerous letters, diaries and reports, the image of Russia in Europe was laid on the eve of large-scale Peter's reforms. Up until the beginning of the Great Northern War, the foundation of St. Petersburg and the expansion of the borders of the Russian state, the roads of the Pskov border played an extremely important role in maintaining contacts with European countries, which led to increased attention to them both from the tsarist administration and foreign travelers. The quality of roads and related infrastructure in the border region continued to improve during the period under review. Travelers compared the sections of their route to the roads after crossing the border. Many foreign travelers noted the best quality of the road in the possessions of the Russian tsar in comparison with Polish and even Swedish possessions.