October 22, 2025Open Access

The “Journey” to the Christian East of the Kievan Townsman Vladimir Smirnov — An Unknown Source About a Russian Pilgrimage in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Key Points

Smirnov's diary provides a unique eyewitness account during the 1836-1837 plague epidemic at Mount Athos, documenting significant events.
The preserved fragments of Smirnov’s diary, written between 1836 and 1838, offer much-needed insights into Russian pilgrimage practices of the time.
Circumstances forced Smirnov to extend his stay at Mount Athos, allowing for a detailed exploration of life within the hermitage during critical events.
The rarity of such accounts from the early 19th century emphasizes the diary's value for studying the history of pilgrimages and the Russian presence.

Abstract

This article introduces the first part of a pilgrimage diary written by the Kievan townsman Vladimir Smirnov in 1836–1838. The extant part of the diary is preserved in two fragments, which are found in two different manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow: Fond 310 (Collection of V. M. Undolskii), no. 1032 and Fond 17 (Collection of E. V. Barsov), no. 521.2. The destination of Smirnov’s pilgrimage was Jerusalem, but circumstances forced him to stay on Mount Athos much longer than he planned. In the extant part of his diary, Smirnov describes his stay in the Russian Skete of Prophet Elijah on the Holy Mountain, where he and other monks survived the plague epidemic of 1836–1837. His diary entries are exceptional among pilgrimage texts from that time because they present an eyewitness account of the tragic events at the hermitage during the epidemic, of the author’s tonsure as a monk, and of the election of a new abbot. They also give details concerning everyday pilgrimage practice in the 1830s. This information makes Smirnov’s diary a valuable source for the history of the Russian presence on Mount Athos, particularly because there are very few pilgrims’ accounts of the Holy Mountain from the first third of the 19th century.

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