Version 81649908 of the page "Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society" does not exist.
After the departure of the sovereign from Moscow, Moscow life flowed in the same, usual order, and the course of this life was so ordinary that it was difficult to remember the former days of patriotic enthusiasm and enthusiasm, and it was difficult to believe that Russia was really in danger and that the members of the English Club were together with that, the sons of the fatherland, ready for any sacrifice for him. One thing that was reminiscent of the general enthusiastic patriotic mood that existed during the sovereign’s stay in Moscow was the demand for donations of people and money, which, as soon as they were made, took on a legal, official form and seemed inevitable.
As the enemy approached Moscow, the Muscovites’ view of their situation not only did not become more serious, but, on the contrary, became even more frivolous, as is always the case with people who see a great danger approaching. When danger approaches, two voices always speak equally strongly in a person’s soul: one very reasonably says that a person should consider the very nature of the danger and the means to get rid of it; another says even more wisely that it is too difficult and painful to think about danger, whereas it is not in the power of man to foresee everything and save himself from the general course of affairs, and therefore it is better to turn away from the difficult, until it comes, and think about the pleasant. In solitude, a person mostly gives himself to the first voice, in society, on the contrary, to the second. So it was now with the residents of Moscow. It's been a long time since we had as much fun in Moscow as we did this year.
Rastopchinsky posters with the image at the top of a drinking house, a kisser and a Moscow tradesman Karpushka Chigirin, who, having been in the warriors and having drunk an extra hook on a poke, heard that Bonaparte wanted to go to Moscow, got angry, scolded all the French with bad words, left the drinking house and spoke under the eagle to the assembled people, read and discussed along with the last burima of Vasily Lvovich Pushkin.
In the club, in the corner room, they were going to read these posters, and some liked how Karpushka made fun of the French, saying that they would bloat from cabbage, they would burst from porridge, they would choke from cabbage soup, that they were all dwarfs and that one woman would throw a pitchfork at the three of them . Some did not approve of this tone and said that it was vulgar and stupid. They said that Rostopchin expelled the French and even all foreigners from Moscow, that among them there were spies and agents of Napoleon; but they told this mainly in order to convey on this occasion the witty words spoken by Rostopchin upon their departure. The foreigners were sent on a barge to Nizhny, and Rastopchin told them: “Rentrez en vous meme, entrez dans la barque et n"en faites pas une barque ne Charon.” [enter yourself and into this boat and try so that this boat does not became Charon's boat for you.] They said that they had already expelled all government posts from Moscow, and immediately added Shinshin's joke that for this alone Moscow should be grateful to Napoleon. They said that Mamonov's regiment would cost eight hundred thousand, that Bezukhov would cost even more spent on his warriors, but the best thing about Bezukhov’s action is that he himself will dress in a uniform and ride on horseback in front of the regiment and will not take anything for places from those who will look at him.
“You’re not doing anyone any favors,” said Julie Drubetskaya, collecting and pressing a pile of plucked lint with thin fingers covered with rings.
Julie was getting ready to leave Moscow the next day and was having a farewell party.
- Bezukhov is est ridicule [ridiculous], but he is so kind, so sweet. What pleasure is it to be so caustique [evil-tongued]?
- Fine! - said a young man in a militia uniform, whom Julie called “mon chevalier” [my knight] and who was traveling with her to Nizhny.
In Julie's society, as in many societies in Moscow, it was expected to speak only Russian, and those who made mistakes when speaking French paid a fine in favor of the donations committee.
“Another fine for Gallicism,” said the Russian writer who was in the living room. – “The pleasure of being not in Russian.
“You don’t do anyone any favors,” Julie continued to the militiaman, not paying attention to the writer’s remark. “I’m to blame for the caustique,” she said, “and I’m crying, but for the pleasure of telling you the truth I’m ready to pay more; I’m not responsible for Gallicisms,” she turned to the writer: “I have neither the money nor the time, like Prince Golitsyn, to take a teacher and study in Russian.” “Here he is,” said Julie. “Quand on... [When.] No, no,” she turned to the militia, “you won’t catch me.” “When they talk about the sun, they see its rays,” said the hostess, smiling kindly at Pierre. “We were only talking about you,” Julie said with the freedom of lies characteristic of secular women. “We said that your regiment will probably be better than Mamonov’s.”
“Oh, don’t tell me about my regiment,” answered Pierre, kissing his hostess’s hand and sitting down next to her. - I'm so tired of him!
– Surely you will command it yourself? – said Julie, slyly and mockingly exchanging glances with the militiaman.
The militiaman in the presence of Pierre was no longer so caustique, and his face expressed bewilderment at what Julie’s smile meant. Despite his absent-mindedness and good nature, Pierre’s personality immediately stopped all attempts at ridicule in his presence.
“No,” Pierre answered laughing, looking around his large, fat body. “It’s too easy for the French to hit me, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to get on the horse...
Among the people being sorted out for the subject of conversation, Julie's company ended up with the Rostovs.
“They say their affairs are very bad,” said Julie. - And he is so stupid - the count himself. The Razumovskys wanted to buy his house and his property near Moscow, and all this drags on. He is treasured.
“No, it seems that the sale will take place one of these days,” someone said. – Although now it’s crazy to buy anything in Moscow.
- From what? – said Julie. – Do you really think that there is a danger for Moscow?
- Why are you going?
- I? That's strange. I’m going because... well, because everyone is going, and then I’m not Joan of Arc or an Amazon.
- Well, yes, yes, give me some more rags.
“If he manages to get things done, he can pay off all his debts,” the militiaman continued about Rostov.
- A good old man, but very pauvre sire [bad]. And why do they live here for so long? They had long wanted to go to the village. Does Natalie seem to be well now? – Julie asked Pierre, smiling slyly.
“They are expecting a younger son,” said Pierre. “He joined Obolensky’s Cossacks and went to Bila Tserkva. A regiment is being formed there. And now they transferred him to my regiment and are waiting for him every day. The Count has long wanted to go, but the Countess will never agree to leave Moscow until her son arrives.
“I saw them the other day at the Arkharovs’. Natalie looked prettier and cheerful again. She sang one romance. How easy it is for some people!
-What's going on? – Pierre asked displeasedly. Julie smiled.
“You know, Count, that knights like you only exist in the novels of Madame Suza.”
- Which knight? From what? – Pierre asked, blushing.
- Well, come on, dear Count, c "est la fable de tout Moscou. Je vous admire, ma parole d" honneur. [all of Moscow knows this. Really, I'm surprised at you.]
- Fine! Fine! - said the militiaman.
- OK then. You can't tell me how boring it is!
“Qu"est ce qui est la fable de tout Moscou? [What does all of Moscow know?] - Pierre said angrily, getting up.
- Come on, Count. You know!
“I don’t know anything,” said Pierre.
– I know that you were friends with Natalie, and that’s why... No, I’m always friendlier with Vera. Cette chere Vera! [This sweet Vera!]
“Non, madame,” Pierre continued in a dissatisfied tone. “I didn’t take on the role of Rostova’s knight at all, and I haven’t been with them for almost a month.” But I don't understand cruelty...
“Qui s"excuse - s"accuse, [Whoever apologizes, blames himself.] - Julie said, smiling and waving the lint, and so that she had the last word, she immediately changed the conversation. “What, I found out today: poor Marie Volkonskaya arrived in Moscow yesterday. Did you hear she lost her father?
- Really! Where is she? “I would very much like to see her,” said Pierre.
– I spent the evening with her yesterday. Today or tomorrow morning she is going to the Moscow region with her nephew.
- Well, how is she? - said Pierre.
- Nothing, I’m sad. But do you know who saved her? This is a whole novel. Nicholas Rostov. They surrounded her, wanted to kill her, wounded her people. He rushed in and saved her...
“Another novel,” said the militiaman. “This general elopement was decidedly done so that all the old brides would get married.” Catiche is one, Princess Bolkonskaya is another.
“You know that I really think that she is un petit peu amoureuse du jeune homme.” [a little bit in love with a young man.]
- Fine! Fine! Fine!
– But how can you say this in Russian?..
When Pierre returned home, he was given two Rastopchin posters that had been brought that day.
The first said that the rumor that Count Rostopchin was prohibited from leaving Moscow was unfair and that, on the contrary, Count Rostopchin was glad that ladies and merchant wives were leaving Moscow. “Less fear, less news,” the poster said, “but I answer with my life that there will be no villain in Moscow.” These words clearly showed Pierre for the first time that the French would be in Moscow. The second poster said that our main apartment was in Vyazma, that Count Wittschstein defeated the French, but that since many residents want to arm themselves, there are weapons prepared for them in the arsenal: sabers, pistols, guns, which residents can get at a cheap price. The tone of the posters was no longer as playful as in Chigirin’s previous conversations. Pierre thought about these posters. Obviously, that terrible thundercloud, which he called upon with all the strength of his soul and which at the same time aroused involuntary horror in him - obviously this cloud was approaching.
“Should I enlist in the military and go to the army or wait? – Pierre asked himself this question for the hundredth time. He took a deck of cards lying on his table and began to play solitaire.
“If this solitaire comes out,” he said to himself, mixing the deck, holding it in his hand and looking up, “if it comes out, it means... what does it mean?” He didn’t have time to decide what it meant when a voice was heard behind the office door the eldest princess asking if she could come in.
“Then it will mean that I have to go to the army,” Pierre finished to himself. “Come in, come in,” he added, turning to the prince.
(One eldest princess, with a long waist and a petrified face, continued to live in Pierre's house; the two younger ones got married.)
“Forgive me, mon cousin, for coming to you,” she said in a reproachfully excited voice. - After all, we finally need to decide on something! What will it be? Everyone has left Moscow, and the people are rioting. Why are we staying?
“On the contrary, everything seems to be fine, ma cousine,” said Pierre with that habit of playfulness that Pierre, who always embarrassedly endured his role as a benefactor in front of the princess, acquired for himself in relation to her.
- Yes, it’s good... good well-being! Today Varvara Ivanovna told me how different our troops are. You can certainly attribute it to honor. And the people have completely rebelled, they stop listening; My girl started being rude too. Soon they will start beating us too. You can't walk on the streets. And most importantly, the French will be here tomorrow, what can we expect! “I ask one thing, mon cousin,” said the princess, “order me to be taken to St. Petersburg: whatever I am, I cannot live under Bonaparte’s rule.”
- Come on, ma cousine, where do you get your information from? Against…
- I will not submit to your Napoleon. Others want it... If you don't want to do it...
- Yes, I will do it, I’ll order it now.
The princess was apparently annoyed that there was no one to be angry with. She sat down on a chair, whispering something.
“But this is being conveyed to you incorrectly,” said Pierre. “Everything is quiet in the city, and there is no danger.” I was reading just now...” Pierre showed the princess the posters. – The Count writes that he answers with his life that the enemy will not be in Moscow.
“Oh, this count of yours,” the princess spoke angrily, “is a hypocrite, a villain who himself incited the people to rebel.” Wasn’t he the one who wrote in those stupid posters that whoever he was, drag him by the crest to the exit (and how stupid)! Whoever takes it, he says, will have honor and glory. So I was quite happy. Varvara Ivanovna said that her people almost killed her because she spoke French...
“Yes, it’s so... You take everything very much to heart,” said Pierre and began to play solitaire.
Despite the fact that the solitaire had worked out, Pierre did not go to the army, but remained in empty Moscow, still in the same anxiety, indecision, in fear and at the same time in joy, expecting something terrible.
The next day, the princess left in the evening, and his chief manager came to Pierre with the news that the money he required to outfit the regiment could not be obtained unless one estate was sold. The general manager generally represented to Pierre that all these undertakings of the regiment were supposed to ruin him. Pierre had difficulty hiding his smile as he listened to the manager’s words.
“Well, sell it,” he said. - What can I do, I can’t refuse now!
The worse the state of affairs, and especially his affairs, was, the more pleasant it was for Pierre, the more obvious it was that the catastrophe he was waiting for was approaching. Almost none of Pierre's acquaintances were in the city. Julie left, Princess Marya left. Of the close acquaintances, only the Rostovs remained; but Pierre did not go to them.
On this day, Pierre, in order to have fun, went to the village of Vorontsovo to see a large balloon that was being built by Leppich to destroy the enemy, and a test balloon that was supposed to be launched tomorrow. This ball was not ready yet; but, as Pierre learned, it was built at the request of the sovereign. The Emperor wrote to Count Rastopchin the following about this ball:
“Aussitot que Leppich sera pret, composez lui un equipage pour sa nacelle d"hommes surs et intelligents et depechez un courrier au general Koutousoff pour l"en prevenir. Je l"ai instruit de la chose.
Recommandez, je vous prie, a Leppich d"etre bien attentif sur l"endroit ou il descendra la premiere fois, pour ne pas se tromper et ne pas tomber dans les mains de l"ennemi. Il est indispensable qu"il combine ses mouvements avec le general en chef.”
[As soon as Leppich is ready, assemble a crew for his boat of loyal and intelligent people and send a courier to General Kutuzov to warn him.
I informed him about this. Please instruct Leppich to pay careful attention to the place where he descends for the first time, so as not to make a mistake and not fall into the hands of the enemy. It is necessary that he coordinate his movements with the movements of the commander-in-chief.]
Returning home from Vorontsov and driving along Bolotnaya Square, Pierre saw a crowd at Lobnoye Mesto, stopped and got off the droshky. It was the execution of a French cook accused of espionage. The execution had just ended, and the executioner was untying a pitifully moaning fat man with red sideburns, blue stockings and a green camisole from the mare. Another criminal, thin and pale, stood right there. Both, judging by their faces, were French. With a frightened, painful look, similar to that of the thin Frenchman, Pierre pushed through the crowd.
- What is this? Who? For what? - he asked. But the attention of the crowd - officials, townspeople, merchants, men, women in cloaks and fur coats - was so greedily focused on what was happening at Lobnoye Mesto that no one answered him. The fat man stood up, frowning, shrugged his shoulders and, obviously wanting to express firmness, began to put on his doublet without looking around him; but suddenly his lips trembled, and he began to cry, angry with himself, as adult sanguine people cry. The crowd spoke loudly, as it seemed to Pierre, in order to drown out the feeling of pity within itself.
- Someone’s princely cook...
“Well, monsieur, it’s clear that Russian jelly sauce has set the Frenchman on edge... it’s set his teeth on edge,” said the wizened clerk standing next to Pierre, while the Frenchman began to cry. The clerk looked around him, apparently expecting an assessment of his joke. Some laughed, some continued to look in fear at the executioner, who was undressing another.
Pierre sniffed, wrinkled his nose, and quickly turned around and walked back to the droshky, never ceasing to mutter something to himself as he walked and sat down. As he continued on the road, he shuddered several times and screamed so loudly that the coachman asked him:
- What do you order?
-Where are you going? - Pierre shouted at the coachman who was leaving for Lubyanka.
“They ordered me to the commander-in-chief,” answered the coachman.
- Fool! beast! - Pierre shouted, which rarely happened to him, cursing his coachman. - I ordered home; and hurry up, you idiot. “We still have to leave today,” Pierre said to himself.
Pierre, seeing the punished Frenchman and the crowd surrounding the Execution Ground, so finally decided that he could not stay any longer in Moscow and was going to the army that day, that it seemed to him that he either told the coachman about this, or that the coachman himself should have known it .
Arriving home, Pierre gave an order to his coachman Evstafievich, who knew everything, could do everything, and was known throughout Moscow, that he was going to Mozhaisk that night to the army and that his riding horses should be sent there. All this could not be done on the same day, and therefore, according to Evstafievich, Pierre had to postpone his departure until another day in order to give time for the bases to get on the road.
On the 24th it cleared up after the bad weather, and that afternoon Pierre left Moscow. At night, after changing horses in Perkhushkovo, Pierre learned that there had been a big battle that evening. They said that here, in Perkhushkovo, the ground shook from the shots. No one could answer Pierre's questions about who won. (This was the battle of Shevardin on the 24th.) At dawn, Pierre approached Mozhaisk.
All the houses of Mozhaisk were occupied by troops, and at the inn, where Pierre was met by his master and coachman, there was no room in the upper rooms: everything was full of officers.
In Mozhaisk and beyond Mozhaisk, troops stood and marched everywhere. Cossacks, foot and horse soldiers, wagons, boxes, guns were visible from all sides. Pierre was in a hurry to move forward as quickly as possible, and the further he drove away from Moscow and the deeper he plunged into this sea of troops, the more he was overcome by anxiety and a new joyful feeling that he had not yet experienced. It was a feeling similar to the one he experienced in the Slobodsky Palace during the Tsar’s arrival - a feeling of the need to do something and sacrifice something. He now experienced a pleasant feeling of awareness that everything that constitutes people’s happiness, the comforts of life, wealth, even life itself, is nonsense, which is pleasant to discard in comparison with something... With what, Pierre could not give himself an account, and indeed she tried to understand for himself, for whom and for what he finds it especially charming to sacrifice everything. He was not interested in what he wanted to sacrifice for, but the sacrifice itself constituted a new joyful feeling for him.
On the 24th there was a battle at the Shevardinsky redoubt, on the 25th not a single shot was fired from either side, on the 26th the Battle of Borodino took place.
Why and how were the battles of Shevardin and Borodino given and accepted? Why was the Battle of Borodino fought? It didn’t make the slightest sense for either the French or the Russians. The immediate result was and should have been - for the Russians, that we were closer to the destruction of Moscow (which we feared most of all in the world), and for the French, that they were closer to the destruction of the entire army (which they also feared most of all in the world) . This result was immediately obvious, but meanwhile Napoleon gave and Kutuzov accepted this battle.
If the commanders had been guided by reasonable reasons, it seemed, how clear it should have been for Napoleon that, having gone two thousand miles and accepting a battle with the probable chance of losing a quarter of the army, he was heading for certain death; and it should have seemed just as clear to Kutuzov that by accepting the battle and also risking losing a quarter of the army, he was probably losing Moscow. For Kutuzov, this was mathematically clear, just as it is clear that if I have less than one checker in checkers and I change, I will probably lose and therefore should not change.
When the enemy has sixteen checkers, and I have fourteen, then I am only one-eighth weaker than him; and when I exchange thirteen checkers, he will be three times stronger than me.
Before the Battle of Borodino, our forces were approximately compared to the French as five to six, and after the battle as one to two, that is, before the battle one hundred thousand; one hundred and twenty, and after the battle fifty to one hundred. And at the same time, the smart and experienced Kutuzov accepted the battle. Napoleon, the brilliant commander, as he is called, gave battle, losing a quarter of the army and stretching his line even more. If they say that, having occupied Moscow, he thought how to end the campaign by occupying Vienna, then there is a lot of evidence against this. The historians of Napoleon themselves say that even from Smolensk he wanted to stop, he knew the danger of his extended position, he knew that the occupation of Moscow would not be the end of the campaign, because from Smolensk he saw the situation in which Russian cities were left to him, and did not receive a single answer to their repeated statements about their desire to negotiate.
In giving and accepting the Battle of Borodino, Kutuzov and Napoleon acted involuntarily and senselessly. And historians, under the accomplished facts, only later brought up intricate evidence of the foresight and genius of the commanders, who, of all the involuntary instruments of world events, were the most slavish and involuntary figures.
The ancients left us examples of heroic poems in which the heroes constitute the entire interest of history, and we still cannot get used to the fact that for our human time a story of this kind has no meaning.
To another question: how were the Borodino and Shevardino battles that preceded it fought? There is also a very definite and well-known, completely false idea. All historians describe the matter as follows:
The Russian army allegedly, in its retreat from Smolensk, was looking for the best position for a general battle, and such a position was allegedly found at Borodin.
The Russians allegedly strengthened this position forward, to the left of the road (from Moscow to Smolensk), at almost a right angle to it, from Borodin to Utitsa, at the very place where the battle took place.
Ahead of this position, a fortified forward post on the Shevardinsky Kurgan was supposedly set up to monitor the enemy. On the 24th Napoleon allegedly attacked the forward post and took it; On the 26th he attacked the entire Russian army standing in position on the Borodino field.
This is what the stories say, and all this is completely unfair, as anyone who wants to delve into the essence of the matter can easily see.
The Russians could not find a better position; but, on the contrary, in their retreat they passed through many positions that were better than Borodino. They did not settle on any of these positions: both because Kutuzov did not want to accept a position that was not chosen by him, and because the demand for a people’s battle had not yet been expressed strongly enough, and because Miloradovich had not yet approached with the militia, and also because other reasons that are innumerable. The fact is that the previous positions were stronger and that the Borodino position (the one on which the battle was fought) is not only not strong, but for some reason is not at all a position any more than any other place in the Russian Empire, which, if you were guessing, you could point to with a pin on the map.
The Russians not only did not strengthen the position of the Borodino field to the left at right angles to the road (that is, the place where the battle took place), but never before August 25, 1812, did they think that the battle could take place at this place. This is evidenced, firstly, by the fact that not only on the 25th there were no fortifications at this place, but that, begun on the 25th, they were not finished even on the 26th; secondly, the proof is the position of the Shevardinsky redoubt: the Shevardinsky redoubt, ahead of the position at which the battle was decided, does not make any sense. Why was this redoubt fortified stronger than all other points? And why, defending it on the 24th until late at night, all efforts were exhausted and six thousand people were lost? To observe the enemy, a Cossack patrol was enough. Thirdly, proof that the position in which the battle took place was not foreseen and that the Shevardinsky redoubt was not the forward point of this position is the fact that Barclay de Tolly and Bagration until the 25th were convinced that the Shevardinsky redoubt was the left flank of the position and that Kutuzov himself, in his report, written in the heat of the moment after the battle, calls the Shevardinsky redoubt the left flank of the position. Much later, when reports about the Battle of Borodino were being written in the open, it was (probably to justify the mistakes of the commander-in-chief, who had to be infallible) that unfair and strange testimony was invented that the Shevardinsky redoubt served as a forward post (while it was only a fortified point of the left flank) and as if the Battle of Borodino was accepted by us in a fortified and pre-chosen position, whereas it took place in a completely unexpected and almost unfortified place.
The thing, obviously, was like this: the position was chosen along the Kolocha River, which crosses the main road not at a right angle, but at an acute angle, so that the left flank was in Shevardin, the right near the village of Novy and the center in Borodino, at the confluence of the Kolocha and Vo rivers yn. This position, under the cover of the Kolocha River, for an army whose goal is to stop the enemy moving along the Smolensk road to Moscow, is obvious to anyone who looks at the Borodino field, forgetting how the battle took place.
Napoleon, having gone to Valuev on the 24th, did not see (as they say in the stories) the position of the Russians from Utitsa to Borodin (he could not see this position, because it did not exist) and did not see the forward post of the Russian army, but stumbled upon the Russian rearguard in pursuit to the left flank of the Russian position, to the Shevardinsky redoubt, and, unexpectedly for the Russians, transferred troops through Kolocha. And the Russians, not having had time to engage in a general battle, retreated with their left wing from the position they had intended to occupy, and took up a new position, which was not foreseen and not fortified. Having moved to the left side of Kolocha, to the left of the road, Napoleon moved the entire future battle from right to left (from the Russian side) and transferred it to the field between Utitsa, Semenovsky and Borodin (to this field, which has nothing more advantageous for the position than any another field in Russia), and on this field the entire battle took place on the 26th. In rough form, the plan for the proposed battle and the battle that took place will be as follows:
If Napoleon had not left on the evening of the 24th for Kolocha and had not ordered an attack on the redoubt immediately in the evening, but had launched an attack the next day in the morning, then no one would have doubted that the Shevardinsky redoubt was the left flank of our position; and the battle would take place as we expected. In this case, we would probably defend the Shevardinsky redoubt, our left flank, even more stubbornly; Napoleon would have been attacked in the center or on the right, and on the 24th a general battle would have taken place in the position that was fortified and foreseen. But since the attack on our left flank took place in the evening, following the retreat of our rearguard, that is, immediately after the battle of Gridneva, and since the Russian military leaders did not want or did not have time to start a general battle on the same evening of the 24th, Borodinsky’s first and main action The battle was lost on the 24th and, obviously, led to the loss of the one fought on the 26th.
After the loss of the Shevardinsky redoubt, by the morning of the 25th we found ourselves without a position on the left flank and were forced to bend back our left wing and hastily strengthen it anywhere.
But not only did the Russian troops stand only under the protection of weak, unfinished fortifications on August 26, but the disadvantage of this situation was increased by the fact that the Russian military leaders did not recognize the completely accomplished fact (the loss of position on the left flank and the transfer of the entire future battlefield from right to left ), remained in their extended position from the village of Novy to Utitsa and, as a result, had to move their troops during the battle from right to left. Thus, during the entire battle, the Russians had twice as weak forces against the entire French army directed at our left wing. (Poniatowski’s actions against Utitsa and Uvarov on the French right flank were actions separate from the course of the battle.)
So, the Battle of Borodino did not happen at all as they describe it (trying to hide the mistakes of our military leaders and, as a result, diminishing the glory of the Russian army and people). The Battle of Borodino did not take place in a chosen and fortified position with forces that were somewhat weaker on the Russian side, but the Battle of Borodino, due to the loss of the Shevardinsky redoubt, was accepted by the Russians in an open, almost unfortified area with forces twice as weak against the French, that is, in such conditions in which it was not only unthinkable to fight for ten hours and make the battle indecisive, but it was unthinkable to keep the army from complete defeat and flight for three hours.
On the morning of the 25th, Pierre left Mozhaisk. On the descent from the huge steep and crooked mountain leading out of the city, past the cathedral standing on the mountain to the right, in which a service was going on and the gospel was being preached, Pierre got out of the carriage and went on foot. Behind him, some cavalry regiment with singers in front was descending onto the mountain. A train of carts with those wounded in yesterday's case was rising towards him. The peasant drivers, shouting at the horses and lashing them with whips, ran from one side to the other. The carts, on which three or four wounded soldiers lay and sat, jumped over the stones thrown in the form of a pavement on a steep slope. The wounded, tied with rags, pale, with pursed lips and frowning brows, holding onto the beds, jumped and pushed in the carts. Everyone looked at Pierre's white hat and green tailcoat with almost naive childish curiosity.
Pierre's coachman angrily shouted at the convoy of wounded to keep them together. A cavalry regiment, singing, descending from the mountain, approached Pierre's droshky and blocked the road. Pierre stopped, pressing himself against the edge of the road dug into the mountain. Because of the slope of the mountain, the sun did not reach the deepening of the road, it was cold and damp here; It was a bright August morning above Pierre's head, and the ringing of bells resounded cheerfully. One cart with the wounded stopped at the edge of the road near Pierre himself. The driver in bast shoes, out of breath, ran up to his cart, slipped a stone under the rear tireless wheels and began to straighten the harness on his little horse.
One wounded old soldier with a bandaged arm, walking behind the cart, took hold of it with his good hand and looked back at Pierre.
- Well, fellow countryman, they’ll put us here, or what? Ali to Moscow? - he said.
Pierre was so lost in thought that he did not hear the question. He looked first at the cavalry regiment that had now met the train of wounded, then at the cart where he stood and on which two wounded were sitting and one was lying, and it seemed to him that here, in them, lay the solution to the question that was occupying him. One of the soldiers sitting on the cart was probably wounded in the cheek. His whole head was tied with rags, and one cheek was swollen as big as a child's head. His mouth and nose were on one side. This soldier looked at the cathedral and crossed himself. The other, a young boy, a recruit, fair-haired and white, as if completely without blood in his thin face, looked at Pierre with a fixed, kind smile; the third lay face down, and his face was not visible. The choir cavalrymen passed right over the cart.
- Oh, it’s gone... yes, the hedgehog’s head...
“Yes, they are tenacious on the other side...” they performed a soldier’s dance song. As if echoing them, but in a different kind of fun, the metallic sounds of ringing were interrupted in the heights. And, in yet another kind of fun, the hot rays of the sun poured over the top of the opposite slope. But under the slope, near the cart with the wounded, next to the out of breath horse where Pierre was standing, it was damp, cloudy and sad.
The soldier with a swollen cheek looked angrily at the cavalrymen.
- Oh, dandies! – he said reproachfully.
“Today I’ve seen not only soldiers, but also peasants!” The peasants are being driven away too,” said the soldier standing behind the cart with a sad smile, addressing Pierre. - Nowadays they don’t understand... They want to attack all the people, one word - Moscow. They want to do one end. “Despite the vagueness of the soldier’s words, Pierre understood everything he wanted to say and nodded his head approvingly.
The road cleared, and Pierre went downhill and drove on.
Pierre drove along, looking on both sides of the road, looking for familiar faces and everywhere meeting only unfamiliar military faces of different branches of the army, who looked with equal surprise at his white hat and green tailcoat.
Having traveled about four miles, he met his first acquaintance and joyfully addressed him. This acquaintance was one of the leading doctors in the army. He was driving towards Pierre in a chaise, sitting next to a young doctor, and, recognizing Pierre, he stopped his Cossack, who was sitting on the box instead of the coachman.
- Count! Your Excellency, how are you here? - asked the doctor.
- Yes, I wanted to see...
- Yes, yes, there will be something to see...
Pierre got down and stopped talking with the doctor, explaining to him his intention to participate in the battle.
The doctor advised Bezukhov to contact His Serene Highness directly.
“Why, God knows where you are during a battle, in obscurity,” he said, exchanging glances with his young comrade, “but His Serene Highness still knows you and will receive you graciously.” “So, father, do it,” said the doctor.
The doctor seemed tired and in a hurry.
- So you think... And I also wanted to ask you, where is the position? - said Pierre.
- Position? - said the doctor. - This is not my thing. You will pass Tatarinova, there is a lot of digging going on there. There you will enter the mound: you can see from there,” said the doctor.
- And you can see from there?.. If you...
But the doctor interrupted him and moved towards the chaise.
“I would see you off, yes, by God,” here (the doctor pointed to his throat) I gallop to the corps commander. After all, how is it with us?.. You know, Count, tomorrow there is a battle: for a hundred thousand troops, a small number of twenty thousand wounded must be counted; but we have neither stretchers, nor beds, nor paramedics, nor doctors for six thousand. There are ten thousand carts, but other things are needed; do as you wish.
That strange thought that from among those thousands of people alive, healthy, young and old, who looked at his hat with cheerful surprise, there were probably twenty thousand doomed to wounds and death (perhaps the same ones he saw), – Pierre was amazed.
They might die tomorrow, why do they think about anything other than death? And suddenly, through some secret connection of thoughts, he vividly imagined the descent from Mozhaisk Mountain, carts with the wounded, the ringing of bells, the slanting rays of the sun and the song of the cavalrymen.
“Cavalrymen go to battle and meet the wounded, and do not think for a minute about what awaits them, but walk past and wink at the wounded. And out of all these, twenty thousand are doomed to death, and they are surprised at my hat! Strange!" - Pierre thought, heading further to Tatarinova.
At the landowner's house, on the left side of the road, there were carriages, vans, crowds of orderlies and sentries. The brightest one stood here. But at the time Pierre arrived, he was not there, and almost no one from the staff was there. Everyone was at the prayer service. Pierre drove forward to Gorki.
Having driven up the mountain and into a small street in the village, Pierre saw for the first time militia men with crosses on their hats and in white shirts, who were loudly talking and laughing, animated and sweaty, working something to the right of the road, on a huge mound overgrown with grass. .
Some of them were digging a mountain with shovels, others were transporting earth on planks in wheelbarrows, and others stood doing nothing.
Two officers stood on the mound, ordering them. Seeing these men, obviously still amused by their new, military situation, Pierre again remembered the wounded soldiers in Mozhaisk, and it became clear to him what the soldier wanted to express when he said that they wanted to attack the whole people. The sight of these bearded men working on the battlefield with their strange clumsy boots, with their sweaty necks and some of their shirts unbuttoned at the slanting collar, from under which the tanned bones of the collarbones were visible, affected Pierre more than anything else he had seen and heard so far. about the solemnity and significance of the present moment.
Pierre got out of the carriage and, past the working militia, ascended the mound from which, as the doctor told him, the battlefield could be seen.
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning. The sun stood somewhat to the left and behind Pierre and brightly illuminated through the clean, rare air the huge panorama that opened up before him like an amphitheater across the rising terrain.
Up and to the left along this amphitheater, cutting it, wound the great Smolensk road, passing through a village with a white church, which lay five hundred steps in front of the mound and below it (this was Borodino). The road crossed under the village across a bridge and, through ups and downs, wound higher and higher to the village of Valuev, visible six miles away (Napoleon was now standing there). Beyond Valuev, the road disappeared into a yellowing forest on the horizon. In this birch and spruce forest, to the right of the direction of the road, the distant cross and bell tower of the Kolotsk Monastery glittered in the sun. All along this blue distance, to the right and left of the forest and the road, in different places one could see smoking fires and indefinite masses of our and enemy’s troops. To the right, along the flow of the Kolocha and Moskva rivers, the area was gorged and mountainous. Between their gorges the villages of Bezzubovo and Zakharyino could be seen in the distance. To the left, the terrain was more level, there were fields with grain, and one smoking, burnt village could be seen - Semenovskaya.
Everything that Pierre saw to the right and to the left was so vague that neither the left nor the right side of the field completely satisfied his idea. Everywhere there was not the battle that he expected to see, but fields, clearings, troops, forests, smoke from fires, villages, mounds, streams; and no matter how much Pierre tried, he could not find a position in this lively area and could not even distinguish your troops from the enemy.
“We need to ask someone who knows,” he thought and turned to the officer, who was looking with curiosity at his huge non-military figure.
“Let me ask,” Pierre turned to the officer, “what village is ahead?”
- Burdino or what? - said the officer, turning to his comrade with a question.
“Borodino,” the other answered, correcting him.
The officer, apparently pleased with the opportunity to talk, moved towards Pierre.
- Are ours there? asked Pierre.
“Yes, and the French are further away,” said the officer. - There they are, visible.
- Where? Where? asked Pierre.
- You can see it with the naked eye. Yes, here you go! “The officer pointed to the smoke visible to the left across the river, and his face showed that stern and serious expression that Pierre had seen on many faces he met.
- Oh, these are the French! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to the left at the mound, near which troops could be seen.
- These are ours.
- Oh, ours! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to another distant mound with a large tree, near a village visible in the gorge, where fires were also smoking and something was black.
“It’s him again,” said the officer. (This was the Shevardinsky redoubt.) - Yesterday it was ours, and now it’s his.
– So what is our position?
- Position? - said the officer with a smile of pleasure. “I can tell you this clearly, because I built almost all of our fortifications.” You see, our center is in Borodino, right here. “He pointed to a village with a white church in front. - There is a crossing over Kolocha. Here, you see, where the rows of mown hay still lie in the low place, here is the bridge. This is our center. Our right flank is here (he pointed sharply to the right, far into the gorge), there is the Moscow River, and there we built three very strong redoubts. Left flank... - and then the officer stopped. - You see, it’s difficult to explain to you... Yesterday our left flank was right there, in Shevardin, you see, where the oak is; and now we have carried the left wing back, now there, there - see the village and the smoke? “This is Semenovskoye, right here,” he pointed to the Raevsky mound. “But it’s unlikely there will be a battle here.” That he transferred troops here is a deception; he will probably go around to the right of Moscow. Well, no matter where it is, many will be missing tomorrow! - said the officer.
The old non-commissioned officer, who approached the officer during his story, silently awaited the end of his superior's speech; but at this point he, obviously dissatisfied with the officer’s words, interrupted him.
“You have to go for the tours,” he said sternly.
The officer seemed embarrassed, as if he realized that he could think about how many people would be missing tomorrow, but he shouldn’t talk about it.
“Well, yes, send the third company again,” the officer said hastily.
- Who are you, not a doctor?
“No, I am,” answered Pierre. And Pierre went downhill again past the militia.
- Oh, damned ones! - said the officer following him, holding his nose and running past the workers.
“There they are!.. They’re carrying, they’re coming... There they are... they’re coming in now...” suddenly voices were heard, and officers, soldiers and militiamen ran forward along the road.
A church procession rose from under the mountain from Borodino. Ahead of everyone, infantry marched orderly along the dusty road with their shakos removed and guns lowered downwards. Church singing could be heard behind the infantry.
Overtaking Pierre, soldiers and militiamen ran without hats towards the marchers.
- They are carrying Mother! Intercessor!.. Iverskaya!..
“Mother of Smolensk,” corrected another.
The militia - both those who were in the village and those who worked at the battery - threw down their shovels and ran towards the church procession. Behind the battalion, walking along a dusty road, were priests in robes, one old man in a hood with a clergyman and a chanter. Behind them, soldiers and officers carried a large icon with a black face in the setting. It was an icon taken from Smolensk and from that time carried with the army. Behind the icon, around it, in front of it, from all sides, crowds of military men walked, ran and bowed to the ground with their heads naked.
Having ascended the mountain, the icon stopped; The people holding the icon on the towels changed, the sextons lit the censer again, and the prayer service began. The hot rays of the sun beat vertically from above; a weak, fresh breeze played with the hair of open heads and the ribbons with which the icon was decorated; singing was heard softly in the open air. A huge crowd of officers, soldiers, and militiamen with their heads open surrounded the icon. Behind the priest and sexton, in a cleared area, stood the officials. One bald general with George around his neck stood right behind the priest and, without crossing himself (obviously, he was a man), patiently waited for the end of the prayer service, which he considered necessary to listen to, probably to arouse the patriotism of the Russian people. Another general stood in a militant pose and shook his hand in front of his chest, looking around him. Among this circle of officials, Pierre, standing in the crowd of men, recognized some acquaintances; but he did not look at them: all his attention was absorbed by the serious expression of faces in this crowd of soldiers and soldiers, monotonously greedily looking at the icon. As soon as the tired sextons (singing the twentieth prayer service) began to lazily and habitually sing: “Save your servants from troubles, Mother of God,” and the priest and deacon picked up: “As we all resort to you for God’s sake, as for an indestructible wall and intercession,” - to everyone the same expression of consciousness of the solemnity of the coming moment, which he saw under the mountain in Mozhaisk and in fits and starts on many, many faces he met that morning, flared up on their faces again; and more often heads were lowered, hair was shaken, and sighs and the blows of crosses on chests were heard.
The crowd surrounding the icon suddenly opened up and pressed Pierre. Someone, probably a very important person, judging by the haste with which they shunned him, approached the icon.
It was Kutuzov, driving around the position. He, returning to Tatarinova, approached the prayer service. Pierre immediately recognized Kutuzov by his special figure, different from everyone else.
In a long frock coat on a huge thick body, with a stooped back, an open white head and a leaky white eye on his swollen face, Kutuzov entered the circle with his diving, swaying gait and stopped behind the priest. He crossed himself with the usual gesture, reached his hand to the ground and, sighing heavily, lowered his gray head. Behind Kutuzov was Bennigsen and his retinue. Despite the presence of the commander-in-chief, who attracted the attention of all the highest ranks, the militia and soldiers continued to pray without looking at him.
When the prayer service ended, Kutuzov went up to the icon, fell heavily on his knees, bowing to the ground, and tried for a long time and could not get up from heaviness and weakness. His gray head twitched with effort. Finally, he stood up and, with a childishly naive stretching of his lips, kissed the icon and bowed again, touching the ground with his hand. The generals followed his example; then the officers, and behind them, crushing each other, trampling, puffing and pushing, with excited faces, soldiers and militia climbed.
Swaying from the crush that gripped him, Pierre looked around him.
- Count, Pyotr Kirilych! How are you here? - said someone's voice. Pierre looked around.
Boris Drubetskoy, cleaning his knees with his hand, which he had soiled (probably also kissing the icon), approached Pierre with a smile. Boris was dressed elegantly, with a touch of camp militancy. He was wearing a long frock coat and a whip over his shoulder, just like Kutuzov.
Meanwhile, Kutuzov approached the village and sat down in the shade of the nearest house on a bench, which one Cossack ran and quickly covered with a rug. A huge brilliant retinue surrounded the commander-in-chief.
The icon moved on, followed by the crowd. Pierre stopped about thirty paces from Kutuzov, talking to Boris.
Pierre explained his intention to participate in the battle and inspect the position.
“Here’s how to do it,” said Boris. – Je vous ferai les honneurs du camp. [I will treat you to the camp.] You will best see everything from where Count Bennigsen will be. I'm with him. I'll report to him. And if you want to go around the position, then come with us: we are now going to the left flank. And then we’ll come back, and you’re welcome to spend the night with me, and we’ll form a party. You know Dmitry Sergeich, right? He’s standing here,” he pointed to the third house in Gorki.
“But I would like to see the right flank; they say he is very strong,” said Pierre. – I would like to drive from the Moscow River and the entire position.
- Well, you can do that later, but the main one is the left flank...
- Yes Yes. Can you tell me where Prince Bolkonsky’s regiment is? asked Pierre.
- Andrey Nikolaevich? We'll pass by, I'll take you to him.
- What about the left flank? asked Pierre.
“To tell you the truth, entre nous, [between us], God knows what position our left flank is in,” said Boris, trustingly lowering his voice, “Count Bennigsen did not expect it at all.” He intended to strengthen that mound over there, not at all like that... but,” Boris shrugged. – His Serene Highness didn’t want to, or they told him to. After all... - And Boris did not finish, because at that time Kaysarov, Kutuzov’s adjutant, approached Pierre. - A! Paisiy Sergeich,” said Boris, turning to Kaisarov with a free smile, “But I’m trying to explain the position to the count.” It’s amazing how His Serene Highness could so correctly guess the intentions of the French!
– Are you talking about the left flank? - said Kaisarov.
- Yes yes exactly. Our left flank is now very, very strong.
Despite the fact that Kutuzov kicked out all unnecessary people from the headquarters, Boris, after the changes made by Kutuzov, managed to stay at the main apartment. Boris joined Count Bennigsen. Count Bennigsen, like all the people with whom Boris was, considered the young Prince Drubetskoy an unappreciated person.
There were two sharp, definite parties in command of the army: the party of Kutuzov and the party of Bennigsen, the chief of staff. Boris was present at this last game, and no one knew better than he, while paying servile respect to Kutuzov, to make one feel that the old man was bad and that the whole business was being conducted by Bennigsen. Now the decisive moment of the battle had come, which was either to destroy Kutuzov and transfer power to Bennigsen, or, even if Kutuzov had won the battle, to make it felt that everything had been done by Bennigsen. In any case, big rewards were to be given out tomorrow and new people were to be brought forward. And as a result of this, Boris was in irritated animation all that day.
After Kaisarov, other of his acquaintances still approached Pierre, and he did not have time to answer the questions about Moscow with which they bombarded him, and did not have time to listen to the stories they told him. All faces expressed animation and anxiety. But it seemed to Pierre that the reason for the excitement expressed on some of these faces lay more in matters of personal success, and he could not get out of his head that other expression of excitement that he saw on other faces and which spoke of issues not personal, but general , matters of life and death. Kutuzov noticed the figure of Pierre and the group gathered around him.
“Call him to me,” said Kutuzov. The adjutant conveyed the wishes of his Serene Highness, and Pierre headed to the bench. But even before him, an ordinary militiaman approached Kutuzov. It was Dolokhov.
- How is this one here? asked Pierre.
- This is such a beast, it will crawl everywhere! - they answered Pierre. - After all, he was demoted. Now he needs to jump out. He submitted some projects and climbed into the enemy’s chain at night... but well done!..
Pierre, taking off his hat, bowed respectfully in front of Kutuzov.
“I decided that if I report to your lordship, you can send me away or say that you know what I am reporting, and then I won’t be killed...” said Dolokhov.
- So-so.
“And if I’m right, then I will benefit the fatherland, for which I am ready to die.”
- So-so…
“And if your lordship needs a person who would not spare his skin, then please remember me... Maybe I will be useful to your lordship.”
“So... so...” repeated Kutuzov, looking at Pierre with a laughing, narrowing eye.
At this time, Boris, with his courtly dexterity, advanced next to Pierre in the proximity of his superiors and with the most natural look and not loudly, as if continuing the conversation he had begun, said to Pierre:
– The militia – they directly put on clean, white shirts to prepare for death. What heroism, Count!
Boris said this to Pierre, obviously in order to be heard by his Serene Highness. He knew that Kutuzov would pay attention to these words, and indeed His Serene Highness addressed him:
-What are you talking about the militia? - he said to Boris.
“They, your lordship, in preparation for tomorrow, for death, put on white shirts.”
- Ah!.. Wonderful, incomparable people! - said Kutuzov and, closing his eyes, shook his head. - Incomparable people! - he repeated with a sigh.
- Do you want to smell gunpowder? - he said to Pierre. - Yes, a pleasant smell. I have the honor to be an admirer of your wife, is she healthy? My rest stop is at your service. - And, as often happens with old people, Kutuzov began to look around absently, as if he had forgotten everything he needed to say or do.
Obviously, remembering what he was looking for, he lured Andrei Sergeich Kaisarov, the brother of his adjutant, to him.
- How, how, how are the poems, Marina, how are the poems, how? What he wrote about Gerakov: “You will be a teacher in the building... Tell me, tell me,” Kutuzov spoke, obviously about to laugh. Kaisarov read... Kutuzov, smiling, nodded his head to the beat of the poems.
When Pierre walked away from Kutuzov, Dolokhov moved towards him and took him by the hand.
“I’m very glad to meet you here, Count,” he told him loudly and without being embarrassed by the presence of strangers, with particular decisiveness and solemnity. “On the eve of the day on which God knows which of us is destined to survive, I am glad to have the opportunity to tell you that I regret the misunderstandings that existed between us, and I would like you not to have anything against me.” Please forgive me.
Pierre, smiling, looked at Dolokhov, not knowing what to say to him. Dolokhov, with tears welling up in his eyes, hugged and kissed Pierre.
Boris said something to his general, and Count Bennigsen turned to Pierre and offered to go with him along the line.
“This will be interesting for you,” he said.
“Yes, very interesting,” said Pierre.
Half an hour later, Kutuzov left for Tatarinova, and Bennigsen and his retinue, including Pierre, went along the line.
Bennigsen from Gorki descended along the high road to the bridge, which the officer from the mound pointed out to Pierre as the center of the position and on the bank of which lay rows of mown grass that smelled of hay. They drove across the bridge to the village of Borodino, from there they turned left and past a huge number of troops and cannons they drove out to a high mound on which the militia was digging. It was a redoubt that did not yet have a name, but later received the name Raevsky redoubt, or barrow battery.
Pierre did not pay much attention to this redoubt. He did not know that this place would be more memorable for him than all the places in the Borodino field. Then they drove through the ravine to Semenovsky, in which the soldiers were taking away the last logs of the huts and barns. Then, downhill and uphill, they drove forward through broken rye, knocked out like hail, along a road newly laid by artillery along the ridges of arable land to the flushes [a type of fortification. (Note by L.N. Tolstoy.) ], also still being dug at that time.
Bennigsen stopped at the flushes and began to look ahead at the Shevardinsky redoubt (which was ours only yesterday), on which several horsemen could be seen. The officers said that Napoleon or Murat was there. And everyone looked greedily at this bunch of horsemen. Pierre also looked there, trying to guess which of these barely visible people was Napoleon. Finally, the riders rode off the mound and disappeared.
Bennigsen turned to the general who approached him and began to explain the entire position of our troops. Pierre listened to Bennigsen's words, straining all his mental strength to understand the essence of the upcoming battle, but he felt with disappointment that his mental abilities were insufficient for this. He didn't understand anything. Bennigsen stopped talking, and noticing the figure of Pierre, who was listening, he suddenly said, turning to him:
– I think you’re not interested?
“Oh, on the contrary, it’s very interesting,” Pierre repeated, not entirely truthfully.
From the flush they drove even further to the left along a road winding through a dense, low birch forest. In the middle of it
forest, a brown hare with white legs jumped out onto the road in front of them and, frightened by the clatter of a large number of horses, he was so confused that he jumped along the road in front of them for a long time, arousing everyone’s attention and laughter, and only when several voices shouted at him, he rushed to the side and disappeared into the thicket. After driving about two miles through the forest, they came to a clearing where the troops of Tuchkov’s corps, which was supposed to protect the left flank, were stationed.
Here, on the extreme left flank, Bennigsen spoke a lot and passionately and made, as it seemed to Pierre, an important military order. There was a hill in front of Tuchkov’s troops. This hill was not occupied by troops. Bennigsen loudly criticized this mistake, saying that it was crazy to leave the height commanding the area unoccupied and place troops under it. Some generals expressed the same opinion. One in particular spoke with military fervor about the fact that they were put here for slaughter. Bennigsen ordered in his name to move the troops to the heights.
This order on the left flank made Pierre even more doubtful of his ability to understand military affairs. Listening to Bennigsen and the generals condemning the position of the troops under the mountain, Pierre fully understood them and shared their opinion; but precisely because of this, he could not understand how the one who placed them here under the mountain could make such an obvious and gross mistake.
Pierre did not know that these troops were not placed to defend the position, as Bennigsen thought, but were placed in a hidden place for an ambush, that is, in order to be unnoticed and suddenly attack the advancing enemy. Bennigsen did not know this and moved the troops forward for special reasons without telling the commander-in-chief about it.
On this clear August evening on the 25th, Prince Andrei lay leaning on his arm in a broken barn in the village of Knyazkova, on the edge of his regiment’s location. Through the hole in the broken wall, he looked at a strip of thirty-year-old birch trees with their lower branches cut off running along the fence, at an arable land with stacks of oats broken on it, and at bushes through which the smoke of fires—soldiers’ kitchens—could be seen.
No matter how cramped and no one needed and no matter how difficult his life now seemed to Prince Andrei, he, just like seven years ago at Austerlitz on the eve of the battle, felt agitated and irritated.
Orders for tomorrow's battle were given and received by him. There was nothing else he could do. But the simplest, clearest thoughts and therefore terrible thoughts did not leave him alone. He knew that tomorrow's battle was going to be the most terrible of all those in which he participated, and the possibility of death for the first time in his life, without any regard to everyday life, without consideration of how it would affect others, but only according to in relation to himself, to his soul, with vividness, almost with certainty, simply and horribly, it presented itself to him. And from the height of this idea, everything that had previously tormented and occupied him was suddenly illuminated by a cold white light, without shadows, without perspective, without distinction of outlines. His whole life seemed to him like a magic lantern, into which he looked for a long time through glass and under artificial lighting. Now he suddenly saw, without glass, in bright daylight, these poorly painted pictures. “Yes, yes, these are the false images that worried and delighted and tormented me,” he said to himself, turning over in his imagination the main pictures of his magic lantern of life, now looking at them in this cold white light of day - a clear thought of death. “Here they are, these crudely painted figures that seemed to be something beautiful and mysterious. Glory, public good, love for a woman, the fatherland itself - how great these pictures seemed to me, what deep meaning they seemed filled with! And all this is so simple, pale and rough in the cold white light of that morning, which I feel is rising for me. Three major sorrows of his life in particular occupied his attention. His love for a woman, the death of his father and the French invasion that captured half of Russia. “Love!.. This girl, who seemed to me full of mysterious powers. How I loved her! I made poetic plans about love, about happiness with it. Oh dear boy! – he said out loud angrily. - Of course! I believed in some kind of ideal love, which was supposed to remain faithful to me during the whole year of my absence! Like the tender dove of a fable, she was to wither away in separation from me. And all this is much simpler... All this is terribly simple, disgusting!
My father also built in Bald Mountains and thought that this was his place, his land, his air, his men; but Napoleon came and, not knowing about his existence, pushed him off the road like a piece of wood, and his Bald Mountains and his whole life fell apart. And Princess Marya says that this is a test sent from above. What is the purpose of the test when it no longer exists and will not exist? will never happen again! He's gone! So who is this test for? Fatherland, death of Moscow! And tomorrow he will kill me - and not even a Frenchman, but one of his own, as yesterday a soldier emptied a gun near my ear, and the French will come, take me by the legs and head and throw me into a hole so that I don’t stink under their noses, and new conditions will arise lives that will also be familiar to others, and I will not know about them, and I will not exist.”
He looked at the strip of birch trees with their motionless yellow, green and white bark, glistening in the sun. “To die, so that they would kill me tomorrow, so that I wouldn’t exist... so that all this would happen, but I wouldn’t exist.” He vividly imagined the absence of himself in this life. And these birches with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke from the fires - everything around was transformed for him and seemed something terrible and threatening. A chill ran down his spine. Quickly getting up, he left the barn and began to walk.
Voices were heard behind the barn.
- Who's there? – Prince Andrei called out.
The red-nosed captain Timokhin, the former company commander of Dolokhov, now, due to the decline of officers, a battalion commander, timidly entered the barn. He was followed by the adjutant and the regimental treasurer.
Prince Andrei hastily stood up, listened to what the officers had to convey to him, gave them some more orders and was about to let them go, when a familiar, whispering voice was heard from behind the barn.
- Que diable! [Damn it!] - said the voice of a man who bumped into something.
Prince Andrei, looking out of the barn, saw Pierre approaching him, who tripped on a lying pole and almost fell. It was generally unpleasant for Prince Andrei to see people from his world, especially Pierre, who reminded him of all those difficult moments that he experienced on his last visit to Moscow.
- That's how! - he said. - What destinies? I didn't wait.
While he was saying this, in his eyes and the expression of his whole face there was more than dryness - there was hostility, which Pierre immediately noticed. He approached the barn in the most animated state of mind, but when he saw the expression on Prince Andrei’s face, he felt constrained and awkward.
“I arrived... so... you know... I arrived... I’m interested,” said Pierre, who had already senselessly repeated this word “interesting” so many times that day. “I wanted to see the battle.”
- Yes, yes, what do the Masonic brothers say about the war? How to prevent it? - said Prince Andrei mockingly. - Well, what about Moscow? What are mine? Have you finally arrived in Moscow? – he asked seriously.
- We've arrived. Julie Drubetskaya told me. I went to see them and didn’t find them. They left for the Moscow region.
The officers wanted to take their leave, but Prince Andrei, as if not wanting to remain face to face with his friend, invited them to sit and drink tea. Benches and tea were served. The officers, not without surprise, looked at the thick, huge figure of Pierre and listened to his stories about Moscow and the disposition of our troops, which he managed to travel around. Prince Andrei was silent, and his face was so unpleasant that Pierre addressed himself more to the good-natured battalion commander Timokhin than to Bolkonsky.
- So, did you understand the entire disposition of the troops? - Prince Andrei interrupted him.
- Yes, that is, how? - said Pierre. “As a non-military person, I can’t say that I completely, but I still understood the general arrangement.”
“Eh bien, vous etes plus avance que qui cela soit, [Well, you know more than anyone else.],” said Prince Andrei.
- A! - Pierre said in bewilderment, looking through his glasses at Prince Andrei. - Well, what do you say about the appointment of Kutuzov? - he said.
“I was very happy about this appointment, that’s all I know,” said Prince Andrei.
- Well, tell me, what is your opinion about Barclay de Tolly? In Moscow, God knows what they said about him. How do you judge him?
“Ask them,” said Prince Andrei, pointing to the officers.
Pierre looked at him with a condescendingly questioning smile, with which everyone involuntarily turned to Timokhin.
“They saw the light, your Excellency, as your Serene Highness did,” Timokhin said, timidly and constantly looking back at his regimental commander.
- Why is this so? asked Pierre.
- Yes, at least about firewood or feed, I’ll report to you. After all, we were retreating from the Sventsyans, don’t you dare touch a twig, or some hay, or anything. After all, we are leaving, he gets it, isn’t it, your Excellency? - he turned to his prince, - don’t you dare. In our regiment, two officers were put on trial for such matters. Well, as His Serene Highness did, it just became so about this. We saw the light...
- So why did he forbid it?
Timokhin looked around in confusion, not understanding how or what to answer such a question. Pierre turned to Prince Andrei with the same question.
“And so as not to ruin the region that we left to the enemy,” said Prince Andrei with malicious mockery. – This is very thorough; The region must not be allowed to be plundered and the troops must not be accustomed to looting. Well, in Smolensk, he also correctly judged that the French could get around us and that they had more forces. But he could not understand,” Prince Andrei suddenly shouted in a thin voice, as if escaping, “but he could not understand that we fought there for the first time for Russian land, that there was such a spirit in the troops that I had never seen, that We fought off the French for two days in a row and that this success increased our strength tenfold. He ordered a retreat, and all efforts and losses were in vain. He didn’t think about betrayal, he tried to do everything as best as possible, he thought it over; but that’s why it’s no good. He is no good now precisely because he thinks everything over very thoroughly and carefully, as every German should. How can I tell you... Well, your father has a German footman, and he is an excellent footman and will satisfy all his needs better than you, and let him serve; but if your father is sick at the point of death, you will drive away the footman and with your unusual, clumsy hands you will begin to follow your father and calm him down better than a skilled but stranger. That's what they did with Barclay. While Russia was healthy, a stranger could serve her, and she had an excellent minister, but as soon as she was in danger; I need my own, dear person. And in your club they made up the idea that he was a traitor! The only thing they will do by slandering him as a traitor is that later, ashamed of their false accusation, they will suddenly make a hero or a genius out of the traitors, which will be even more unfair. He is an honest and very neat German...
“However, they say he is a skilled commander,” said Pierre.
“I don’t understand what a skilled commander means,” said Prince Andrey with mockery.
“A skillful commander,” said Pierre, “well, the one who foresaw all the contingencies... well, guessed the thoughts of the enemy.”
“Yes, this is impossible,” said Prince Andrei, as if about a long-decided matter.
Pierre looked at him in surprise.
“However,” he said, “they say that war is like a chess game.”
“Yes,” said Prince Andrei, “only with this small difference that in chess you can think about every step as much as you like, that you are there outside the conditions of time, and with this difference that a knight is always stronger than a pawn and two pawns are always stronger.” one, and in war one battalion is sometimes stronger than a division, and sometimes weaker than a company. The relative strength of the troops cannot be known to anyone. Believe me,” he said, “if anything depended on the orders of the headquarters, I would have been there and made the orders, but instead I have the honor of serving here, in the regiment with these gentlemen, and I think that we really tomorrow will depend, not on them... Success has never depended and will not depend on position, weapons, or even numbers; and least of all from the position.
- And from what?
“From the feeling that is in me, in him,” he pointed to Timokhin, “in every soldier.”
Prince Andrei looked at Timokhin, who looked at his commander in fear and bewilderment. In contrast to his previous restrained silence, Prince Andrei now seemed agitated. He apparently could not resist expressing those thoughts that unexpectedly came to him.
– The battle will be won by the one who is determined to win it. Why did we lose the battle at Austerlitz? Our loss was almost equal to that of the French, but we told ourselves very early that we had lost the battle - and we lost. And we said this because we had no need to fight there: we wanted to leave the battlefield as quickly as possible. “If you lose, then run away!” - we ran. If we hadn’t said this until the evening, God knows what would have happened. And tomorrow we won’t say this. You say: our position, the left flank is weak, the right flank is stretched,” he continued, “all this is nonsense, there is none of this.” What do we have in store for tomorrow? A hundred million of the most varied contingencies that will be decided instantly by the fact that they or ours ran or will run, that they will kill this one, they will kill the other; and what is being done now is all fun. The fact is that those with whom you traveled in position not only do not contribute to the general course of affairs, but interfere with it. They are busy only with their own small interests.
- At such a moment? - Pierre said reproachfully.
“At such a moment,” repeated Prince Andrei, “for them it is only such a moment in which they can dig under the enemy and get an extra cross or ribbon.” For me, for tomorrow this is this: a hundred thousand Russian and a hundred thousand French troops came together to fight, and the fact is that these two hundred thousand are fighting, and whoever fights angrier and feels less sorry for himself will win. And if you want, I’ll tell you that, no matter what it is, no matter what is confused up there, we will win the battle tomorrow. Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!
“Here, your Excellency, the truth, the true truth,” said Timokhin. - Why feel sorry for yourself now! The soldiers in my battalion, would you believe it, didn’t drink vodka: it’s not such a day, they say. - Everyone was silent.
The officers stood up. Prince Andrei went out with them outside the barn, giving the last orders to the adjutant. When the officers left, Pierre approached Prince Andrei and was just about to start a conversation when the hooves of three horses clattered along the road not far from the barn, and, looking in this direction, Prince Andrei recognized Wolzogen and Clausewitz, accompanied by a Cossack. They drove close, continuing to talk, and Pierre and Andrey involuntarily heard the following phrases:
– Der Krieg muss im Raum verlegt werden. Der Ansicht kann ich nicht genug Preis geben, [War must be transferred to space. I cannot praise this view enough (German)] - said one.
“O ja,” said another voice, “da der Zweck ist nur den Feind zu schwachen, so kann man gewiss nicht den Verlust der Privatpersonen in Achtung nehmen.” [Oh yes, since the goal is to weaken the enemy, the losses of private individuals cannot be taken into account]
“O ja, [Oh yes (German)],” confirmed the first voice.
“Yes, im Raum verlegen, [transfer into space (German)],” Prince Andrei repeated, snorting angrily through his nose, when they passed. – Im Raum then [In space (German)] I still have a father, a son, and a sister in Bald Mountains. He doesn't care. This is what I told you - these German gentlemen will not win the battle tomorrow, but will only spoil how much their strength will be, because in his German head there are only reasonings that are not worth a damn, and in his heart there is nothing that is only and what is needed for tomorrow is what is in Timokhin. They gave all of Europe to him and came to teach us - glorious teachers! – his voice squealed again.
IOPS is the oldest scientific and charitable non-governmental organization in Russia, unique in its significance in the history of national culture, Russian oriental studies, Russian-Middle Eastern relations.
The statutory objectives of the Society - promoting pilgrimage to the Holy Land, scientific Palestinian studies and humanitarian and educational cooperation with the peoples of the countries of the biblical region - are closely related to the traditional spiritual values of our people and the priorities of Russian foreign policy. Likewise, a huge layer of world history and culture cannot be correctly comprehended and creatively mastered without connection with Palestine, its biblical and Christian heritage.
Conceived by the founders of the Russian cause in the East, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky) and Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) and created in 1882 by the sovereign will of Alexander III, the Palestine Society in the pre-revolutionary period enjoyed august, and therefore direct, state attention and support. It was headed by Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich (from the founding of the Society until the day of his death - February 4, 1905), and then, until 1917, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. Foreign policy and property interests associated with the legacy of the IOPS in the Middle East allowed the Society to survive the revolutionary cataclysm and during the Soviet period. The spiritual renewal of Russia, the new relationship between Church and state, which dawned at the end of the 20th century, inspires hope for the revival of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society with its timeless heritage, high traditions and ideals.
Society and time
The history of the Society knows three large periods: pre-revolutionary (1882–1917), Soviet (1917–1992), post-Soviet (until now).
Upon closer examination, the activities of the IOPS in the pre-revolutionary period clearly fall into three stages.
The first opens with the creation of the Society on May 21, 1882 and ends with its reformation and merger with the Palestine Commission on March 24, 1889.
The second covers the period of time before the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907. and ends for the Society with a number of tragic losses: in 1903, the founder and main ideologist of the Society, V.N., died. Khitrovo, in 1905, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich was killed by a terrorist bomb, in August 1906, the secretary of the IOPS A.P. died. Belyaev. With the departure of the “founding fathers”, the “ascending”, heroic stage in the life of the Palestinian Society ended.
The third period, located “between two revolutions,” is associated with the advent of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to the leadership as chairman and professor A.A. Dmitrievsky as secretary. It ended with the First World War, when the work of Russian institutions in the Middle East ceased and communications with them were severed, or, formally, with the February Revolution and the resignation of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.
Within the Soviet period, certain chronological milestones can also be outlined.
The first eight years (1917–1925) were, without exaggeration, a “struggle for survival.” Having lost the old regime titles in the revolutionary upheaval and devastation, the Russian Palestine Society under the USSR Academy of Sciences (as it was now called) was officially registered by the NKVD only in October 1925.
After 1934, the RPO smoothly transitioned into a virtual mode of existence: not formally closed by anyone, it peacefully ceased functioning. This “dormant” existence continued until 1950, when, by “highest” order, the Society was revived due to the change in the situation in the Middle East - the emergence of the State of Israel.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the widespread political and economic crisis that followed seemed to once again call into question the very existence of the Society. Deprived of material and any other support, it was forced to look for a new status and new, independent sources of financing. But it was now that the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was able to return its historical name and raise the question of fully restoring its property rights and presence in the East (resolution of the Supreme Council of May 25, 1992). The named date opens the newest period in the history of the IOPS.
Birth of the Society
The initiator of the creation of the Society was in the seventies of the 19th century. famous Russian Palestine scholar, prominent St. Petersburg official V.N. Khitrovo (1834–1903). His first trip to the Holy Land in the summer of 1871, seeing with his own eyes the difficult, helpless situation of Russian pilgrims and the bleak state of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, especially its Arab flock, made such a strong impression on Vasily Nikolaevich that his entire spiritual world changed, his entire future life was dedicated to the cause of Orthodoxy in the Middle East.
A particular shock for him was his acquaintance with ordinary Orthodox pilgrims. “It is only thanks to these hundreds and thousands of gray peasants and simple women,” he wrote, “moving from Jaffa to Jerusalem and back from year to year, as if through the Russian province, that we owe the influence that the Russian name has in Palestine; an influence so strong that you and the Russian language will walk along this road and only some Bedouin who has come from afar will not understand you. Take away this influence, and Orthodoxy will die out amid systematic Catholic and, in recent times, even more powerful Protestant propaganda.”
The Russian presence in the Holy Land already had its own history by that time. The Russian Spiritual Mission worked in Jerusalem since 1847, in St. Petersburg since 1864 there was a Palestine Commission under the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Shipping and Trade Society regularly transported pilgrims from Odessa to Jaffa and back. But by the end of the 1870s, with the growth of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage, the Palestine Commission had exhausted its capabilities. Only a single powerful organization, with clear financial mechanisms, with levers of influence in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Synod and other higher Russian authorities. In short, the question arose about creating a private Society, independent of state structures, with a broad mass base - and at the same time with support at the highest level.
And here the decisive role was played by the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 1881 of the brothers of Emperor Alexander III, Grand Dukes Sergius and Pavel Alexandrovich, with their cousin Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (later the famous poet K.R., President of the Academy of Sciences). Communication with leaders of Russian Palestine and, above all, with the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), led to the fact that Sergius Alexandrovich was completely imbued with the interests of Russian affairs in the East. Upon the return of the Grand Duke from Jerusalem, V.N. Khitrovo convinces him to become the head of the projected Society.
On May 8, 1882, the charter of the Orthodox Palestine Society was highly approved, and on May 21, in the palace of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder (who also made a pilgrimage to Palestine in 1872), in the presence of members of the imperial family, Russian and Greek clergy, scientists and diplomats, its grand opening.
Status, composition, structure of the Company
The Orthodox Palestine Society (since 1889 the Imperial, hereinafter IOPS), which arose on a public, even private initiative, from the very beginning carried out its activities under the patronage of the Church, the state, the government, and the ruling dynasty. The Charter of the Society, as well as subsequent changes and additions to it, were submitted through the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod for the highest consideration and approved personally by the Head of State. The Emperor also approved the candidacies of the Chairman and his assistant (since 1889 - Chairman and Vice-Chairman).
The chairmen of the IOPS were Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich (1882-1905), and after his death, Grand Duchess Martyr Elizaveta Feodorovna (1905-1917). Since 1889, the Council of the Society has included, as permanent appointed members, a representative of the Holy Synod and a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and since 1898, also an appointed representative of the Ministry of Public Education. Scientists were elected as members of the Council - from the Academy of Sciences, universities and theological academies.
Among the 43 founding members were well-known representatives of the Russian aristocracy (poet Prince A.A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, historian Count S.D. Sheremetev, admiral and diplomat Count E.V. Putyatin), the highest bureaucratic elite (state controller T.I. Filippov, Director of the Office of the Ministry of Finance D.F. Kobeko, Minister of State Property M.N. Ostrovsky) and scientists (academician-Byzantinist V.G. Vasilievsky, professor of church archeology of the Kyiv Theological Academy A.A. Olesnitsky, literary critic and bibliographer S. .I. Ponomarev).
Membership in the Society was open to everyone who sympathized with its goals and objectives and was interested in the Holy Land and Russian politics in the region. The charter provided for three categories of members: honorary, full and collaborating members. They differed in the degree of involvement in the scientific or practical study of Palestine and the size of annual or one-time (lifetime) contributions.
Having learned that Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich had been appointed head of the Palestine Society, dozens of the best representatives of the Russian nobility hurried to join the ranks of the new organization. In the first year, its honorary members included 13 members of the royal family, headed by Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna. All prime ministers, foreign ministers, almost everyone, starting with K.P. Pobedonostsev, chief prosecutors of the Holy Synod, were members of the Palestine Society in different years.
The management structure of the Society included several links: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Assistant to the Chairman, Secretary, Commissioner of the IOPS (since 1898, Manager of the farmsteads) in Palestine. The composition of the Council (10-12 people) and the number of employees of the Society have always been minimal; dynamism and quality of work at all levels were ensured by strict implementation of the charter, correct and transparent reporting and awareness of the patriotic and religious responsibility of each employee, starting with the Chairman. Sergius Alexandrovich, unlike many other august persons, was not a “wedding general”; he actively participated in the life of the PPO and directed its work. When necessary, I met with ministers and corresponded with them. According to the regulations, ministers (including the head of the foreign policy department) wrote to the Grand Duke reports, and he directed them - from top to bottom - rescripts.
As a result of the rapid and effective implementation of a number of successful construction and scientific-archaeological projects in Palestine, which we will talk about later, the Society acquired sufficient authority so that 7 years after its founding, Sergius Alexandrovich could responsibly raise the question of recognizing the PPO as the only centralized force , directing all Russian work in the Middle East. By the highest decree of March 24, 1989, the Palestine Commission was disbanded, its functions, capital, property and land in the Holy Land were transferred to the Palestine Society, which from that day received the honorary name of the Imperial Society. In a sense, this was a real political revolution. Just look at the published diaries of V.N. Lamzdorf, the future Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then a comrade (deputy) minister, in order to make sure what dissatisfaction was caused in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the fact that Sergei Alexandrovich was actively interfering in the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tried to determine his own line of behavior in the Middle East. And, as time has shown, this line was correct.
The key figure in the entire vertical of the IOPS was the Secretary. During the 35 years of the pre-revolutionary period, this post was occupied by four figures - different by birth, character, education, talent - and each, as they say in such cases, was man in his place. General M.P. Stepanov (1882–1889): military bone, adjutant and courtier, faithful companion and comrade-in-arms of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, a man of extreme experience and tact. V.N. Khitrovo (1889–1903): a scrupulous accountant and statistician - and at the same time a courageous political thinker and publicist, organizer of large-scale humanitarian and educational projects. A prominent Palestinian scholar, founder of scientific publications, editor and bibliographer - and at the same time a talented stylist, author of inspired popular books and brochures. A.P. Belyaev (1903–1906) was a brilliant diplomat, a master of international and inter-church intrigue, and at the same time a highly educated Arabist, a subtle polemicist, open to serious theological dialogue in any dialect of the Arabic language. And finally, A.A. Dmitrievsky (1906–1918) - a great church historian and source scholar, the founder of the traditions of Russian historical liturgics, the best expert on Greek manuscript literature - and at the same time a consistent champion of Russian great power policy in the East, the author of an entire library of works on the history and personalities of the Palestinian Society and the Russian affairs in Palestine.
Of course, none of them (even V.N. Khitrovo, who was amazing in the breadth of his interests) was completely universal; each turned out to be the strongest in his chosen field. But successively replacing each other in a key position for the activities of the IOPS, they not only reveal unsurpassed loyalty and continuity of the line worked out once and for all, but also embody a kind of almost artistic “ensemble” integrity, hardly achievable over a long period of time even for the most united purely human groups and teams. Only religious By the character and selfless service of the founders and leaders of the IOPS, we owe those indisputable accomplishments and achievements with which the 35-year pre-revolutionary period of the Society’s activity was so rich.
Main activities of the IOPS in Palestine
The charter defined three main areas of activity of the IOPS: church-pilgrimage, foreign policy and scientific. To work in different areas, the Society was divided into three corresponding departments. The goals set for each of them can be formulated as follows:
– to assist Russian Orthodox people, subjects of the Russian Empire, in organizing pilgrimages to the Holy Land. For this purpose, land plots were acquired in Palestine, churches and farmsteads with the necessary infrastructure (hotels, canteens, baths, hospitals) were built, preferential rates were provided for pilgrims by train and on ships, accommodation, meals, and driving of pilgrimage groups to holy places were organized. reading qualified lectures for them;
– to provide educational and humanitarian assistance to the peoples of the Middle East and Local Churches on behalf of the Russian state and the Russian people. For this purpose, the IOPS built churches for the Greek clergy at its own expense, opened and maintained schools for Arab children, and provided direct financial assistance to the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch.
– conduct scientific, scientific publishing and educational work to study and popularize knowledge about the Holy Land and other countries of the biblical region, the history of Russian-Palestinian church and cultural ties. The Society conducted and financed scientific expeditions, archaeological excavations, and business trips of IOPS scientists to libraries and ancient repositories of the East. It was planned to create a Russian Scientific Institute in Jerusalem (the First World War interfered). Multifaceted scientific publishing activities were carried out: from the most authoritative scientific publications to popular brochures and leaflets; The “Orthodox Palestine Collection” and the journal “Messages of the IOPS” were regularly published.
By the way, lectures and readings about the Holy Land for the people were an important part of the national religious educational work. The scale of this educational activity has expanded enormously since regional, or, as they said then, diocesan departments of the IOPS began to emerge; the first of them was the most remote, Yakut department, created on March 21, 1893. The main source of funding for the IOPS were membership fees and voluntary donations, national church collections (up to 70% of the income came from the “Palestinian collection” on Palm Sunday), as well as direct government subsidies . Over time, the real estate of the IOPS in the Holy Land became an important material factor, which, although they were the property of a private society, were always considered as a national treasure of Russia.
Architectural monuments associated with the activities of the Society largely determine the historical appearance of Jerusalem to this day. The first in time was the ensemble of Russian Buildings, including the Trinity Cathedral, the building of the Russian Spiritual Mission, the consulate, the Elizabethan and Mariinsky courtyards and the Russian hospital - inherited by the IOPS from the Palestine Commission. But that was only the beginning. The marvelous Church of Mary Magdalene on the slope of Olivet (consecrated on October 1, 1888) has become a kind of architectural calling card of modern Jerusalem. The famous Sergievsky courtyard, named after the first Chairman of the Society, with a corner round tower on which the “Palestinian flag” - the banner of the IOPS - fluttered on holidays, also acquired symbolic significance. In the very heart of the Old City, near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is the Alexander Metochion, which houses the Gospel Threshold of the Gates of Judgment and the Church of Alexander Nevsky, consecrated on May 22, 1896 in memory of the founder of the Society, Alexander III the Peacemaker. On the Street of the Prophets, the Veniaminovsky courtyard, donated to the Society in 1891 by Abbot Veniamin, has been preserved. The latest in a series of Jerusalem projects is the Nikolaevsky Metochion, so named in memory of the last Russian autocrat (consecrated on December 6, 1905).
History has dealt mercilessly with the legacy of the Palestinian Society - the fruit of many years of expense and effort of our people. The Jerusalem World Court is located in the building of the Spiritual Mission, and the police are located in the Elizabethan Compound (the barbed wire along the perimeter of the walls eloquently indicates that a pre-trial detention center is still located here). The Mariinsky Compound was also turned into a prison by the British; arrested participants in the Zionist terrorist struggle against the British Mandate were kept there. Currently, the “Museum of Jewish Resistance” is located here. Nikolaevskoye Compound is now the building of the Ministry of Justice.
Monuments related to the activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society also exist outside of Jerusalem. In 1901-1904. The Nazareth Compound was built. led book Sergius Alexandrovich, in 1902 - courtyard named after. Speransky in Haifa. (Both sold in the 1964 Orange Deal)
Another important area of activity of the IOPS was, as we said, a multifaceted set of activities covered by the concept of “support for Orthodoxy in the Holy Land.” This concept included direct financial assistance to the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, and the construction of churches in places where Orthodox Arabs live compactly, with their subsequent provision of everything necessary, and diplomatic assistance of the Patriarchate in confronting both the Turkish authorities and heterodox infiltration. But the most effective area of investment was rightly considered to be educational work among the Arab Orthodox population.
The first IOPS schools in Palestine were opened in the year the Society was founded (1882). Since 1895, the educational initiative of the IOPS has spread within the boundaries of the Antioch Patriarchate. Lebanon and Syria became the main springboard for school construction: according to 1909 data, 1,576 people studied in 24 Russian educational institutions in Palestine, and 9,974 students in 77 schools in Syria and Lebanon. This ratio, with minor annual fluctuations, remained until 1914.
On July 5, 1912, Nicholas II approved the law approved by the State Duma on the budgetary financing of IOPS educational institutions in Syria and Lebanon (150 thousand rubles per year). A similar measure was planned for schools in Palestine. The First World War and then the revolution interrupted the Russian humanitarian breakthrough in the Middle East.
Exactly one hundred years ago, on May 21, 1907, the 25th anniversary of the IOPS was solemnly celebrated in St. Petersburg and Jerusalem. In the diary of Emperor Nicholas II, under this date we read: “At 3 o’clock the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Palestine Society took place in the Palace, first a prayer service was served in the Petrovskaya Hall, after which a meeting took place in the Merchant Hall.” The Emperor honored the Chairman of the Society, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, with a rescript, which summed up the results of a quarter century of the Society’s work: “Now, having possessions in Palestine worth almost two million rubles, the IOPS has 8 farmsteads, where up to 10 thousand pilgrims find shelter, a hospital , six hospitals for incoming patients and 101 educational institutions with 10,400 students; Over the course of 25 years, he published 347 publications on Palestinian studies.”
By this time, the Society consisted of more than 3 thousand members, departments of the IOPS operated in 52 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Company's real estate consisted of 28 land plots (26 in Palestine and one each in Lebanon and Syria), with a total area of more than 23.5 hectares. Since, according to Turkish legislation (the lack of land ownership rights for legal entities - institutions and societies), the Palestinian Society could not have its own, legally registered real estate in the East, a third of the plots (10 out of 26) were assigned to the Russian government, the rest were passed off as private property. Including, 8 plots were registered in the name of the chairman of the IOPS, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, 4 were listed as the property of the director of the Nazareth Teachers' Seminary A.G. Kezma, 3 more were listed under the former inspector of the Galilean schools of the Society A.I. Yakubovich, 1 - for former inspector P.P. Nikolaevsky. Over time, it was planned to obtain from the Ottoman government the correct assignment of the Company's properties, but the First World War interfered.
The fate of the IOPS in the 20th century
After the February Revolution, the IOPS ceased to be called “Imperial”, and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna resigned as Chairman. On April 9, 1917, the former vice-chairman, Prince, was elected chairman. A.A. Shirinsky-Shikhmatov. In the fall of 1918, the prince emigrated to Germany. There, not authorized by anyone in Russia, he headed the parallel “Council of the Orthodox Palestine Society” - a kind of “Council in Exile”, uniting some of the former members of the IOPS who found themselves in exile (the future fate of the foreign IOPS is a separate discussion). And the present Council, which remained in its homeland, on October 5 (18), 1918, elected the oldest of its members, Academician V.V., as chairman. Latyshev, who held this post until his death on May 2, 1921. On May 22, 1921, the famous Russian Byzantine scholar, academician F.I. was elected chairman of the Society. Uspensky.
Since 1918, the Society also abandoned the name “Orthodox”; from then on it was called the Russian Palestine Society at the Academy of Sciences and, since any ties with Palestine were interrupted for a long time, it was forced to limit itself exclusively to scientific activity. On September 25, 1918, a new edition of the Society’s charter and the documents necessary for its registration were sent to the Council of Workers, Peasants and Red Army Deputies of the Rozhdestvensky District of Petrograd. On October 24, 1918, an order was received from the People's Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky: “immediately take measures to secure the scientific property of the Palestine Society.” Then came an important postscript: “The revolutionary authorities are pleased to assist the Academy of Sciences in the execution of this assignment.”
As soon as the Soviet state was recognized by European countries, on May 18, 1923, the representative of the RSFSR in London L.B. Krasin sent a note to the British Foreign Secretary Marquis Curzon, which stated: “The Russian government declares that all lands, hotels, hospitals, schools and other buildings, as well as in general all other movable or immovable property of the Palestine Society in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Kaif, Beirut and other places in Palestine and Syria, or wherever it was located (this also meant the St. Nicholas Metochion of the IOPS in Bari, Italy. - N.L.), is the property of the Russian state." On October 29, 1925, the charter of the RPO was registered by the NKVD. Despite the most difficult conditions, during the 1920s, until the early 1930s. The society conducted active scientific work.
During the 20th century. The IOPS and its properties in the Holy Land have been used more than once for political purposes. Some representatives of the Russian emigration (ROCOR and foreign PPO) and their foreign patrons tried to present Russian Palestine as almost an outpost of anti-communism in the Middle East. In turn, the Soviet government (starting with Krasin’s note in 1923) did not abandon efforts to return foreign property. A low bow to all the Russian people who managed to preserve this island of Holy Rus' in the Holy Land during the bitter years of exile. But the main moral and legal postulate that determines the position of the IOPS and its legacy is that, in view of the above, no “Palestinian Society” can exist without Russia and outside Russia, and no claims of persons or organizations located abroad on the Company's property are impossible and illegal.
The creation of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948), which initially intensified the competition between the West and the East in the struggle for the Middle Eastern bridgehead, made the return of Russian property a relevant and convenient factor in Soviet-Israeli reciprocity. On May 20, 1948, I. Rabinovich was appointed “commissioner for Russian property in Israel”, who, according to him, from the very beginning “did everything possible to transfer property to the Soviet Union.” On September 25, 1950, a decree was issued by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the resumption of the activities of the Palestine Society and the approval of the staff of its representative office in the State of Israel.
The first meeting of the renewed membership of the Society in Moscow took place on January 16, 1951. The chief scientific secretary of the Academy of Sciences, academician A.V., chaired. Topchiev. In his opening remarks, he said: “Due to a number of circumstances, the activities of the Russian Palestine Society were actually interrupted in the early 30s. Considering the recent increased interest of Soviet scientists, and especially orientalists, in the countries of the Middle East, as well as the increased capabilities of Soviet science, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences recognized the need to intensify the activities of the Society as an organization helping Soviet scientists study these countries.” The famous oriental historian S.P. was elected chairman of the RPO. Tolstoy. The Council included academicians V.V. Struve, A.V. Topchiev, Doctor of Historical Sciences N.V. Pigulevskaya, scientific secretary R.P. Dadykin. In March 1951, the official representative of the RPO M.P. arrived in Jerusalem. Kalugin, located at the Jerusalem headquarters of the Society, in the Sergievsky courtyard.
In 1964, most of the real estate owned by the IOPS in Palestine was sold by the Khrushchev government to the Israeli authorities for $4.5 million (the so-called “orange deal”). After the Six-Day War (June 1967) and the severance of relations with Israel, Soviet representatives, including the representative of the RPO, left the country. This had a sad result for the Society: the abandoned representative office in the Sergievsky Compound has not yet been restored.
 O.G. Peresypkin |
 IOPS meeting 2003 |
A new turn at the turn of the 1980s–1990s. associated with the restoration of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the state of Israel and a change in the foreign policy concept traditional for the Soviet period. In 1989, a new chairman came to the Society - the rector of the Diplomatic Academy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation O.G. Peresypkin and scientific secretary V.A. Savushkin. It was during this period that key events for the IOPS took place: the Society gained independence, returned its historical name, began to work according to a new charter, as close as possible to the original one, and restored its main functions - including promoting Orthodox pilgrimage. Members of the IOPS actively participated in scientific conferences in Russia and abroad. In the fall of 1990, for the first time in the entire post-revolutionary period, members of the Society were able to make a pilgrimage trip to the Holy Land to participate in the “Jerusalem Forum: Representatives of Three Religions for Peace in the Middle East.” In subsequent years, more than two dozen pilgrim groups organized by the IOPS visited the Holy Land.
On May 25, 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution to restore the historical name of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and recommended that the government take the necessary measures for the practical restoration and return of its property and rights to the IOPS. On May 14, 1993, Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Government of the Russian Federation V.S. Chernomyrdin signed the following order: “To instruct the Russian Foreign Ministry to conduct negotiations with the Israeli side with the participation of the State Property Committee on the restoration of the Russian Federation’s ownership of the building of the Sergievsky Metochion (Jerusalem) and the corresponding land plot. Upon reaching an agreement, register the said building and land plot as state property of the Russian Federation, transferring, in accordance with the recommendation of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, an apartment in the building of the Sergievsky Metochion for perpetual use to the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.”
Presentation of the golden sign of the IOPS to His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II.
Right: Ya. N. Shchapov (2006)
The re-establishment in the 1990s was of great importance for strengthening the authority of the Society. connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II took the Palestine Society under his direct patronage and headed the Committee of Honorary Members of the IOPS. Honorary members of the Society are Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna, Mayor of Moscow Yu.M. Luzhkov, Rector of the Moscow Medical Academy, Academician M.A. Paltsev and other prominent figures.
In November 2003, the outstanding Russian historian, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya.N. was elected Chairman of the Society. Shchapov. At a meeting of the IOPS Council on March 11, 2004, the heads of the sections were approved: for international activities - Head of the Department for Middle East Settlement (now Deputy Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation O.B. Ozerov, for pilgrimage activities - General Director of the Pilgrimage Center S.Yu. Zhitenev, for scientific and publishing activities - Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences "The Role of Religions in History" Doctor of Historical Sciences A.V. Nazarenko. S.Yu. Zhitenev was appointed Scientific Secretary of the Society in January 2006.
Regional branches operate in St. Petersburg (Chairman - Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, General Director of the State Hermitage M.B. Piotrovsky, Scientific Secretary - Doctor of Historical Sciences E.N. Meshcherskaya), Nizhny Novgorod (Chairman - Dean of the Faculty of International Relations of Nizhny Novgorod State University , Doctor of Historical Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences O.A. Kolobov, Scientific Secretary - Doctor of Historical Sciences A.A. Kornilov), Orle (Chairman - Head of the Information and Analytical Department of the Administration of the Oryol Region, Doctor of Historical Sciences S.V. Fefelov, Scientific Secretary – Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Livtsov), Jerusalem and Bethlehem (Chairman Daoud Matar).
Modern activities of the IOPS
Scientific direction
One of the most important statutory activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society from the very beginning has been and remains scientific work in the field of historical, archaeological, philological research of the Holy Land and other countries of the biblical region. It is enough to name an epoch-making discovery in the field of biblical archeology - the excavations of the Threshold of the Gate of Judgment, through which Christ walked to Golgotha (1883), carried out by Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) on behalf and at the expense of the IOPS.
At the IOPS site in Jericho D.D. Smyshlyaev in 1887 excavated the remains of an ancient Byzantine temple. During the work, objects were found that formed the basis of the Museum of Palestinian Antiquities created at the Alexander Metochion. Of great importance were the studies of Georgian antiquities by Professor A.A., who was sent by the Society to Jerusalem and Sinai. Tsagareli. Active member of the IOPS, famous traveler, doctor-anthropologist A.V. Eliseev walked the ancient route to the Holy Land through the Caucasus and Asia Minor. A special place in the scientific heritage of the Society is occupied by the expedition of 1891 under the leadership of Academician N.P. Kondakov, the result of which was his major work “Syria and Palestine”. More than 1,000 photographs from rare ancient monuments brought by the expedition were included in the photo library of the IOPS. At the very beginning of the 20th century. on the initiative of Professor P.K. Kokovtsev and Secretary of the IOPS V.N. Khitrovo, at the Council of the Society, “Interviews on scientific issues relating to Palestine, Syria and neighboring countries” were organized, which historians later characterized as “one of the few attempts to form a society of Orientalists in Russia with special scientific tasks.”
Already at the height of the First World War, in 1915, the question was raised about the creation, after the end of the war, of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Jerusalem (modeled on the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople that existed in 1894-1914).
In the post-October period, almost all the major orientalists and Byzantinists were members of the Society, and this intellectual force could not be ignored. Members of the Russian Palestine Society at the USSR Academy of Sciences included in the 1920s. academicians F.I. Uspensky (Chairman of the Society in 1921-1928) and N.Ya. Marr (Chairman of the Society in 1928-1934), V.V. Bartold, A.A. Vasiliev, S.A. Zhebelev, P.K. Kokovtsev, I.Yu. Krachkovsky, I.I. Meshchaninov, S.F. Oldenburg, A.I. Sobolevsky, V.V. Struve; Professor D.V. Ainalov, I.D. Andreev, V.N. Beneshevich, A.I. Brilliantov, V.M. Veryuzhsky, A.A. Dmitrievsky, I.A. Karabinov, N.P. Likhachev, M.D. Priselkov, I.I. Sokolov, B.V. Titlinov, I.G. Troitsky, V.V. and M.V. Farmakovskiy, I.G. Frank-Kamenetsky, V.K. Shileiko. Many outstanding scientists in the field of natural science also became members of the Society: academicians V.I. Vernadsky, A.E. Fersman, N.I. Vavilov. The scientific life of the Society was practically uninterrupted, with the possible exception of the most difficult months of “war communism.” Since January 1919, there are documents about more or less regular meetings of the RPO with the presentation of serious reports and topics for discussion. During these years the Society was an active scientific institution, a union of scientists with a broad and varied program.
In 1954, the first issue of the renewed “Palestine Collection” was published. The responsible editor of this and subsequent volumes was N.V. Pigulevskaya. Although not a periodical, The Palestine Collection was published with amazing regularity: from 1954 to 2007. 42 issues were published. Orientalists of the new generation grouped around him: A.V. Bank, I.N. Vinnikov, E.E. Granstrem, A.A. Guber, B.M. Danzig, I.M. Dyakonov, A.G. Lundin, E.N. Meshcherskaya, A.V. Paykova, B.B. Piotrovsky, K.B. Starkov. A.E. belonged to the Moscow section of the RPO “Literary Connections of East and West”. Bertels, V.G. Bryusova, G.K. Wagner, L.P. Zhukovskaya, O.A. Knyazevskaya, O.I. Podobedova, R.A. Simonov, B.L. Fonkich, Ya.N. Shchapov.
Among the most significant scientific events of the IOPS in the 90s of the XX century. should be called the large international scientific symposium “Russia and Palestine: cultural and religious ties and contacts in the past, present and future” (1990), in which scientists from Arab countries, Israel, England, the USA, Germany and Canada took part, conferences dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the death of Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) in 1994 and the 150th anniversary of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem - in Moscow, Balamand (Lebanon), Nazareth (Israel) - in 1997. Already in the new millennium, conferences dedicated to 100th anniversary of the death of the founder of the IOPS V.N. Khitrovo (2003), the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry Uspensky (2004), the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of the first chairman of the IOPS, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich (2005).
Of particular importance, from the point of view of cooperation with Byzantine scholars, were the conferences “Orthodox Byzantium and the Latin West” held by the Society at the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate. (To the 950th anniversary of the division of the Churches and the 800th anniversary of the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders)" (2004), "Russian, Byzantine, Ecumenical", dedicated to the 850th anniversary of the transfer of the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Vladimir (2005) and "Veneration of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon and Russian-Athos connections (on the 1700th anniversary of his blessed death)" (2005).
The active scientific life of the Society continued in 2006-2007. “Historian of the Orthodox East and Russian Palestine” was the title of the church-scientific conference held on March 23, 2006 and dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the secretary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Alexei Afanasyevich Dmitrievsky (1856–1929). His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II sent a greeting to the conference participants, which said:
« I have remembered the days of old, I have learned from all Your works, - these words of the Psalmist are fully applicable to the scientific ministry of Dmitrievsky - a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, a humble worker of the Church - whose spiritual heritage, however, has global significance. One of the first to turn to the study of monuments of Orthodox worship, which he had been looking for for years in the monastery book depositories and sacristies of Athos, Patmos, Jerusalem and Sinai, the scientist managed to create the fundamental “Description of liturgical manuscripts stored in the libraries of the Orthodox East” and many other works, without which it is unthinkable today no scientific research in the field of Byzantine studies.
No less important and instructive is the epic associated with his service in the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, where he was invited by the Chairman of the Society, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, now canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Speech by Metropolitan Kirill at the conference in memory of A. A. Dmitrievsky (2006)
Theologians, scientists, teachers of church and secular universities, and archivists who spoke at the conference noted the versatility of A.A.’s activities. Dmitrievsky as secretary of the IOPS. The same was evidenced by the exposition of Alexei Afanasyevich’s works published in different years, prepared for the opening of the conference by employees of the State Public Historical Library and the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Empire. Conference participants had the opportunity to see the scientist’s books and monographs, manuscripts and documents written in his hand, which have become a bibliographic rarity.
On May 15, 2006, the scientific and public conference “Knight of the Holy Sepulchre,” dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian church and public figure, poet, writer, pilgrim Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov (1806–1874).
The Patriarchal Greeting to the conference participants emphasized: “A well-known poet and writer, a church publicist, who for the first time managed to awaken in wide reading circles interest in the shrines of the East, in Orthodox worship and church history, Andrei Nikolaevich was also a prominent church figure - and first of all, in area of church-canonical relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Orthodox Sister Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch. His tireless labors contributed to the rapprochement of the Russian Church with the Greek Church and a deeper understanding of the spiritual life of the Orthodox East. We owe to Muravyov the fruitful idea of creating the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, established by the Holy Synod in 1847.”
On December 22, 2006, in the development of the traditional Byzantine problems of the IOPS, the church-scientific conference “Empire, Church, Culture: 17 centuries with Constantine” opened at the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Church, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the scientific community highly appreciated the initiative of the IOPS to honor the 1700th anniversary of the accession to the throne of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great with scientific hearings.
The conference was headed by the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation A.V. also spoke about the relevance of Constantine’s legacy in his welcoming speech. Saltanov. “The question of the relationship between the roles of the state and the church in public life, placed at the center of the upcoming discussion, their mutual influence and interpenetration, has been raised by life itself. For one thousand seven hundred years from the time of Emperor Constantine to the present day, it has not lost its relevance, although in different historical eras it was solved differently. A distinctive feature of our time is the equal and mutually respectful cooperation of the Russian Orthodox Church and the state. Their interests, it seems, are fundamentally the same - to strengthen our Fatherland spiritually and materially, to create the prerequisites for its sustainable and healthy development.”
On March 29-30, 2007, an international church-scientific conference “So that what God showed me should not be forgotten” was held, dedicated to the 900th anniversary of Abbot Daniel’s visit to the Holy Land. The scientific forum was attended by famous scientists - historians, philologists, theologians from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland; professors of universities and Theological Academies.
The address of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II to the participants of the Conference, which was read out by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, said: “Nine hundred years ago, the Chernigov abbot Daniel made his pilgrimage, leaving a description of his “walk” as a souvenir for posterity, which became one of the most remarkable monuments our national literature. The artistic and theological depth of this work is amazing even in our time. Today, after a break of many years, the ancient Russian tradition of pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land is being restored. Believers of every diocese, every parish, following Abbot Daniel and many generations of Orthodox pilgrims, have the opportunity to see with their own eyes the shrines of Palestine, where Christians were promised The Kingdom of God Coming in Power(Mark 9:1)."
The chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya.N. Shchapov also addressed the audience. The Palestine Society, he said, from the day of its foundation set itself the task of not only developing the ancient tradition of prayerful visits to the Holy Land by Russian people, but also the scientific task of studying Russian, Byzantine and Western European “walkings”, regularly published in the “Orthodox Palestine Collection”. Prepared and commented by scientists, members of the Palestine Society, publications of the walks of Russian pilgrims (from the “Walk of Abbot Daniel” of the early 12th century to the “Proskinitarium” of Arseny Sukhanov of the 17th century) make up an entire library.
Conference dedicated to the 900th anniversary of Abbot Daniel's visit to the Holy Land. (2007)
The report of His Eminence Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was devoted to the significance of Daniel’s walk in the Russian church tradition. In general, over the two days of the conference, 25 reports were heard, which examined the historical significance of the walk of Abbot Daniel for Russian culture, discussed issues of the centuries-old tradition of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage, the book and artistic culture of Ancient Rus', and the historical connections of Russia and the Holy Land. The conference showed the growing interest of the scientific community in the little-studied issues of Russian pilgrimage, which is one of the vital aspects of popular piety and is directly related to the tasks of the Russian Orthodox presence in the Middle East and in the world.
On the same day, the opening of the exhibition took place at the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev “And I saw everything with my own eyes...” The exhibition, which included, along with ancient icons, manuscripts and maps, authentic relics of the Holy Land brought to Rus' by pilgrims in different centuries, clearly demonstrated how our ancestors perceived holy places, “what attracted them and attracts us,” in the figurative expression of Ya.N. . Shchapov, “to this narrow strip of Mediterranean land, where every Christian feels as if he has returned after a long separation to the home of his childhood.”
Thus, the Palestine Society worthily continues the scientific and spiritual traditions laid down by its great founders.
International activity
The development and planning of the international activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is directly related to the general concept of the Russian presence in the Middle East and in the world. For 125 years now, the Society has been working in close cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, defending state interests in the Holy Land and other countries of the biblical region.
At the present stage, the goal of the Palestinian Society is the full-scale restoration of its legal and actual presence in the traditional space of activity - in Russia and abroad. Solving both pilgrimage and scientific problems is impossible without recreating the largely lost system of historical ties and humanitarian cooperation with the peoples of the Middle East, without resolving issues of foreign ownership of the IOPS, taking into account state, church, scientific and public priorities.
Immediately after the re-registration of the Society by the Ministry of Justice as an international non-governmental self-governing organization (2003), the Council raised the issue of admitting the IOPS to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Thanks to the efforts of Council member O.B. Ozerov and other employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 2005, the Society received the status of an observer member of ECOSOC, which certainly expanded the possibilities of its scientific, humanitarian and peacekeeping activities in the Middle East. A year later, a representative of the IOPS participated for the first time in the work of the ECOSOC General Assembly in Geneva.
Since 2004, efforts related to the return of foreign property of the IOPS to Russia have intensified. From November 28 to December 9, 2004, a delegation of the Society headed by Chairman Ya.N. took a trip. Shchapov for a number of countries in the biblical region (Greece, Israel, Palestine, Egypt). During the trip, members of the delegation visited the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, and in Athens they were received by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Greek Republic, member of the IOPS A.V. Vdovin, in Tel Aviv - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Israel G.P. Tarasov. In Jerusalem, members of the delegation, for the first time in 15 years, visited and inspected the Sergievsky courtyard of the IOPS in order to further work to return it to Russian ownership.
From March 21 to March 25, 2005, Deputy Chairman N.N. Lisova and council member S.Yu. Zhitenev visited the Holy Land. An Act on the condition of the Society’s apartment in the Sergievsky Compound, as well as a list of documents confirming the rights of the IOPS to the indicated premises, were transferred to the Office of the General Guardian of the Ministry of Justice of Israel (the full set of necessary documents was transferred to the Ministry of Justice of Israel a little later, on the eve of the visit to the country of the President of the Russian Federation V. .V. Putin). Thus, the negotiation process for the return of the Sergievsky metochion to Russian ownership was put on a legal basis for the first time.
Negotiations that began in December 2004 at the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs on the procedure for Russian Orthodox pilgrims to visit the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord on Holy Saturday to participate in the Holy Fire service, as well as on expediting the issuance of group pilgrimage visas, were also continued. For the first time, an agreement was reached so that the Russian Orthodox Church would have its own quota for the passage of pilgrims to the Holy Fire.
In 2005, Russian language courses opened in Bethlehem. In the same year, about thirty people from the Palestinian territories were accepted, on the recommendation of the IOPS, to study at Russian universities.
On June 6, 2005, a scheduled meeting of the leadership of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society with Minister S.V. took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Lavrov. The results of the visit of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. were discussed. Putin to Israel and the PNA. The minister informed the meeting participants that during his visit, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin announced the need to return the Sergievsky metochion to Russian ownership. S.V. Lavrov was solemnly presented with the gold badge of the IOPS.
Participants of the International Scientific and Public Conference “Jerusalem in the Russian Spiritual Tradition”
In November 2005, in Jerusalem, on the basis of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, an international scientific and public conference “Jerusalem in the Russian Spiritual Tradition” was organized - the most large-scale foreign scientific event of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society for the entire period of its existence.
Metropolitan Timofey of Vostrsky made a welcoming speech at the conference from the Jerusalem Patriarchate, from the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem - Hegumen Tikhon (Zaitsev), from the Hebrew University (Jerusalem) - Professor Rubin Rechav, who emphasized the desire and readiness of the university to further develop cooperation with Russian scientists . On behalf of the Russian delegation, presentations were made by O.A. Glushkova, S.V. Gnutova, S.Yu. Zhitenev, N.N. Lisova, O.V. Loseva, A.V. Nazarenko, M.V. Rozhdestvenskaya, I.S. Chichurov and others. The Hebrew University was represented by reports from I. Ben-Arye, Ruth Kark, V. Levin, Sh. Nekhushtai, E. Rumanovskaya. Speeches by Arab scientists O. Mahamid, Fuad Farah and others were also heard. At the end of the conference, its participants were received by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem and All Palestine.
Founding meeting of the Bethlehem branch of the IOPS (2005)
In Bethlehem, with the participation of Mayor Victor Batarseh, on November 5, 2005, the founding meeting of the Bethlehem branch of the IOPS took place, the chairman of which was Daoud Matar, who had been collaborating with the Society for a long time.
In connection with the special attention that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and personally Lavrov S.V. have been paying lately. working with non-governmental organizations of the Russian Federation, trying to more actively include them in the foreign policy process and in international relations, the leaders of the IOPS have repeatedly participated in meetings and briefings held by the Ministry for NGOs.
Thus, the Palestinian Society is once again becoming a sought-after instrument and conductor of Russian influence and presence in the Middle East, organically complementing the official intergovernmental and interstate relations of the Russian Federation. I would like to think that Russian diplomats will be able to effectively use the historical and moral potential accumulated by the IOPS in the countries of the biblical region. A necessary condition for this is a correct understanding of the specifics of the Russian Orthodox presence in the world and in the region as a traditional, proven and respected form of Russian presence by partners.
The activities of the IOPS as an Orthodox, non-governmental, self-governing organization can be organically included in the general context of state and public events, with an emphasis on continuing traditional directions and forms of humanitarian and educational work with the local population. To strengthen the favorable image of Russia in the Middle East, an effective means is also to create, with the help of the Palestine Society, active centers of the Russian scientific presence - the restoration of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople and the organization of the Russian Scientific Institute in Jerusalem, the promotion and financing of Russian archaeological excavations in the region, the development of creative ties with scientific institutions of Israel and Arab countries.
Pilgrimage activities of the IOPS
A new impetus was given to the Palestine Society through close cooperation with the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“The Lord will bless you from Zion, and you will see the good of Jerusalem” (Ps. 127:5), is inscribed on the reverse side of the sign of the HIPPO. As His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II said in one of his recent addresses, “today we can say that the Lord from Zion has blessed the children of the Russian Church to restore the ancient tradition of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. An opportunity has arisen for the believers of every diocese, every parish, following Abbot Daniel and many generations of Orthodox pilgrims, to see with their own eyes the shrines of Palestine and testify to the kingdom of God coming in power(Mk.9, 1)."
Since 2004, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', church-wide conferences “Orthodox pilgrimage: traditions and modernity” have been held annually at the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate with the active participation of the Palestine Society. The first of them took place on October 27, 2004, its works were published in a separate publication. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for the first time adopted a special Determination, in which it highly appreciated the Conference and invited the bishops to work to implement the decisions taken at it. The result was a significant intensification of pilgrimage work in the dioceses.
As Metropolitan Kirill emphasized in his report at the Second Church Conference (2005), “the flourishing of Russian pilgrimage in the 19th century was largely the merit of the Imperial Palestine Orthodox Society, which, as we know, did a lot to ensure that pilgrimage in our country was widespread.”
The pilgrimage section of the IOPS carries out a great deal of church-historical and theological work to understand the phenomenon of Christian pilgrimage, which has been practically unexplored by either ecclesiastical or secular scholars. Thus, on February 12, 2007, a scientific and methodological conference “The Soteriological Meaning of Pilgrimage” was held in the conference hall of the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate. The main report “The Theological Meaning of Pilgrimage” was delivered by the Scientific Secretary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, General Director of the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate S.Yu. Zhitenev. Reports were also heard from I.K. Kuchmaeva, M.N. Gromov and others. Under the leadership of S.Yu. Zhitenev, work began on preparing for the publication of the “Pilgrimage Dictionary”. Such a publication would be especially relevant in connection with the ongoing discussion in the media about the distinction between the concepts of “pilgrimage” and “tourism”. The Pilgrimage Center also organizes advanced training courses for employees of pilgrimage services, in which members of the IOPS take an active part - giving lectures and conducting seminars. The Palestinian Society and its authors are also widely represented on the pages of the Orthodox Pilgrim magazine.
A large place in the popularization of the history and heritage of the Society is occupied by church veneration of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, who served as Chairman of the IOPS in 1905-1917. For several years now, the Pilgrimage Section of the Society, together with the State Academy of Slavic Culture, has been holding St. Elizabeth’s readings in Moscow, usually timed to coincide with the annual exhibition “Orthodox Rus'”. The proceedings of the VI anniversary readings dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of the Grand Duchess were published as a separate book (“Reflection of the Invisible Light.” M., 2005). “Elizabeth Readings” are also published in Nizhny Novgorod, under the editorship of the Chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the IOPS O.A. Kolobov.
Since 2003, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society has been a permanent participant in Russia’s largest church-public exhibition and forum “Orthodox Rus'”. The exhibition brings together everyone whose activities are related to publishing, educational, missionary and social service. The participation of the IOPS has been repeatedly awarded with diplomas and medals from the Exhibition Organizing Committee.
Conclusion
The main result of the 125-year work of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in the Middle East is the creation and preservation of Russian Palestine. The result is unique: a whole infrastructure of churches, monasteries, farmsteads and land plots has been built, acquired, developed and partly still belong to Russia and the Russian Church. A unique operating model of the Russian presence in the world has been created.
Perhaps even more important is the spiritual contribution that is not taken into account by any numbers, which is associated with the journey of tens and hundreds of thousands of Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Christian pilgrimage has been and remains one of the most influential culture-building factors. Historians to this day marvel at this experience of “dialogue of cultures” and “public diplomacy”, unprecedented in history in terms of mass and intensity.
Another, no less important result is the cultural and educational activities of the IOPS among the Arab population. Many representatives of the formed at the beginning of the 20th century. Arab intelligentsia - and not only Palestinian, but also Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, the best writers and journalists, who later became the glory of Arabic literature, came from Russian schools and teachers' seminaries of the Palestinian Society.
In this regard, I would like to quote the wonderful words spoken in 1896 by one of the authoritative hierarchs of the Russian Church, an active member of the IOPS, Archbishop Nikanor (Kamensky):
“The work accomplished by the Russian people through the Palestine Society is unprecedented in the thousand-year history of Russia. Not giving it due attention means being criminally indifferent to the most sacred thing on earth, to your national aspirations, to your calling in the world. Russian people go to the long-suffering Holy Land not with weapons in their hands, but with an ardent and sincere desire to serve the Holy Land with their labors. In the Holy Land, one might say, the first gigantic step of the Russian people in the world-historical educational field is being taken, completely worthy of the great Orthodox Russia.”
Preservation and continuity of traditions and main directions of activity of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society over the past 125 years - despite the change of governments and regimes - under the Tsar, under Soviet power, under democratic and post-democratic Russia, on the one hand, and equally under the Turks, under the British , under the state of Israel, on the other hand, involuntarily makes you wonder what the power of such continuity is. The Holy Land still invisibly but powerfully “orients” (from the Latin Oriens ‘East’) – and stabilizes – Russia’s position in the “mad world” of economic, political, nationalist interests, global restructuring and local wars.
There is an amazing connection between house number 3 on Zabelina Street, the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent in Moscow and the Church of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, on the slope of the Mount of Olives in Gethsemane, a small Orthodox church attracts attention, its domes shine brightly in the Middle Eastern sun among the greenery of the Gardens of Gethsemane.
This is the Church of Mary Magdalene, consecrated in 1888 in honor of the Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna, née Princess of Hesse, who died in 1880.
The temple was built by the Russian Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPOS), created in 1882, for which a plot of land was purchased. The first chairman of the society was Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the son of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna.
Nowadays, the IOPS has been recreated and registered in Moscow in house No. 3 on Zabelina Street.
The society was created to popularize Orthodoxy in the countries of the Middle East and organize Orthodox pilgrimages to the Holy Land.
In Palestine, Syria, and Libya, schools were created in which Russian was taught along with general education subjects.
Compounds were opened to receive pilgrims, where you could get one free lunch and leave your belongings in a storage room. At the farmsteads there were hospitals and shops with products and souvenirs cheaper than in the city.
Pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land by sea from Odessa to Jaffa, and a ticket on the ship cost forty percent less than for ordinary passengers.
The consecration of the Church of Mary Magdalene was attended by the grand dukes, members of the imperial family, including Sergei Alexandrovich’s wife, Elizaveta Feodorovna, as well as his mother, the Hessian princess. At the solemn ceremony, she bequeathed to be buried in this temple.
After the death of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Governor General of Moscow, at the hands of the terrorist Kalyaev in 1905, his wife Elizaveta Fedorovna became the chairman of the Imperial Society.
In 1909, using her own funds, having sold valuables and jewelry, Elizaveta Fedorovna founded a monastery in Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka, and she became its abbess. Elizaveta Fedorovna dedicated her life to mercy and helping the disadvantaged. The church at the hospital opened in the monastery was consecrated in honor of the myrrh-bearing wives Martha and Mary.
In addition to the hospital, the monastery operated a school and a free canteen for low-income people.
During the First World War, a hospital was organized in the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.
In 1912, the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the monastery according to the design of A.V. Shchusev.
In 1917, the threat of reprisals hung over the abbess of the monastery because of her German origin; her good deeds were not taken into account. She repeatedly received offers from the British government to leave the country. Elizabeth Feodorovna was the granddaughter of the British queen, but she rejected all offers, deciding to share the fate of her new homeland.
In 1918, Elizaveta Feodorovna was arrested and taken with other members of the imperial family to Alapaevsk. There those arrested were executed by being thrown alive into an abandoned mine.
The bodies of the dead White Guards were lifted from the mine and taken to China. In 1921, following the will of the Grand Duchess, her remains were transported to Jerusalem and buried in the Church of Mary Magdalene.
Currently, there is a female Orthodox monastery in Gethsemane, founded in 1934.
The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent was closed during the Soviet period, a club and a cinema were opened in the Intercession Church, and a sculpture of Stalin was installed in the altar.
Currently, the monastery has been revived, services have been resumed in the temple.
In 1992, Elizaveta Fedorovna was canonized as a holy martyr.
The modern IOPS, with the help of the Russian and Israeli governments, is trying to return the farmsteads in Jerusalem and this activity is bringing encouraging results.
The propaganda of Orthodoxy in the Holy Land continues.
Yuri Trifonov
The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the oldest scientific and charitable non-governmental organization in Russia, unique in its significance in the history of national culture, Russian oriental studies, Russian-Middle Eastern relations. The statutory objectives of the Society - promoting pilgrimage to the Holy Land, scientific Palestinian studies and humanitarian and educational cooperation with the peoples of the countries of the biblical region - are closely related to the traditional spiritual values of our people and the priorities of Russian foreign policy. Likewise, a huge layer of world history and culture cannot be correctly comprehended and creatively mastered without connection with Palestine, its biblical and Christian heritage.
Conceived by the founders of the Russian cause in the East, Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky) and Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) and created in 1882 by the sovereign will of Alexander III, the Palestine Society in the pre-revolutionary period enjoyed august, and therefore direct, state attention and support. It was headed by Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich (from the founding of the Society until the day of his death - February 4, 1905), and then, until 1917, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. Foreign policy and property interests associated with the legacy of the IOPS in the Middle East allowed the Society to survive the revolutionary cataclysm and during the Soviet period. The spiritual renewal of Russia, the new relationship between Church and state, which dawned at the end of the 20th century, inspires hope for the revival of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society with its timeless heritage, high traditions and ideals.
Society and time
The history of the Society knows three large periods: pre-revolutionary (1882–1917), Soviet (1917–1992), post-Soviet (until now).
Upon closer examination, the activities of the IOPS in the pre-revolutionary period clearly fall into three stages.
The first opens with the creation of the Society on May 21, 1882 and ends with its reformation and merger with the Palestine Commission on March 24, 1889.
The second covers the period of time before the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907. and ends for the Society with a number of tragic losses: in 1903, the founder and main ideologist of the Society, V.N., died. Khitrovo, in 1905, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich was killed by a terrorist bomb, in August 1906, the secretary of the IOPS A.P. died. Belyaev. With the departure of the “founding fathers”, the “ascending”, heroic stage in the life of the Palestinian Society ended.
The third period, located “between two revolutions,” is associated with the advent of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to the leadership as chairman and professor A.A. Dmitrievsky as secretary. It ended with the First World War, when the work of Russian institutions in the Middle East ceased and communications with them were severed, or, formally, with the February Revolution and the resignation of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.
Within the Soviet period, certain chronological milestones can also be outlined.
The first eight years (1917–1925) were, without exaggeration, a “struggle for survival.” Having lost the old regime titles in the revolutionary upheaval and devastation, the Russian Palestine Society under the USSR Academy of Sciences (as it was now called) was officially registered by the NKVD only in October 1925.
After 1934, the RPO smoothly transitioned into a virtual mode of existence: not formally closed by anyone, it peacefully ceased functioning. This “dormant” existence continued until 1950, when, by “highest” order, the Society was revived due to the change in the situation in the Middle East - the emergence of the State of Israel.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the widespread political and economic crisis that followed seemed to once again call into question the very existence of the Society. Deprived of material and any other support, it was forced to look for a new status and new, independent sources of financing. But it was now that the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was able to return its historical name and raise the question of fully restoring its property rights and presence in the East (resolution of the Supreme Council of May 25, 1992). The named date opens the newest period in the history of the IOPS.
Birth of the Society
The initiator of the creation of the Society was in the seventies of the 19th century. famous Russian Palestine scholar, prominent St. Petersburg official V.N. Khitrovo (1834–1903). His first trip to the Holy Land in the summer of 1871, seeing with his own eyes the difficult, helpless situation of Russian pilgrims and the bleak state of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, especially its Arab flock, made such a strong impression on Vasily Nikolaevich that his entire spiritual world changed, his entire future life was dedicated to the cause of Orthodoxy in the Middle East.
A particular shock for him was his acquaintance with ordinary Orthodox pilgrims. “It is only thanks to these hundreds and thousands of gray peasants and simple women,” he wrote, “moving from Jaffa to Jerusalem and back from year to year, as if through the Russian province, that we owe the influence that the Russian name has in Palestine; an influence so strong that you and the Russian language will walk along this road and only some Bedouin who has come from afar will not understand you. Take away this influence, and Orthodoxy will die out amid systematic Catholic and, in recent times, even more powerful Protestant propaganda.”
The Russian presence in the Holy Land already had its own history by that time. The Russian Spiritual Mission worked in Jerusalem since 1847, in St. Petersburg since 1864 there was a Palestine Commission under the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Shipping and Trade Society regularly transported pilgrims from Odessa to Jaffa and back. But by the end of the 1870s, with the growth of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage, the Palestine Commission had exhausted its capabilities. Only a single powerful organization, with clear financial mechanisms, with levers of influence in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Synod and other higher Russian authorities. In short, the question arose about creating a private Society, independent of state structures, with a broad mass base - and at the same time with support at the highest level.
And here the decisive role was played by the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 1881 of the brothers of Emperor Alexander III, Grand Dukes Sergius and Pavel Alexandrovich, with their cousin Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (later the famous poet K.R., President of the Academy of Sciences). Communication with leaders of Russian Palestine and, above all, with the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), led to the fact that Sergius Alexandrovich was completely imbued with the interests of Russian affairs in the East. Upon the return of the Grand Duke from Jerusalem, V.N. Khitrovo convinces him to become the head of the projected Society.
On May 8, 1882, the charter of the Orthodox Palestine Society was highly approved, and on May 21, in the palace of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder (who also made a pilgrimage to Palestine in 1872), in the presence of members of the imperial family, Russian and Greek clergy, scientists and diplomats, its grand opening.
Status, composition, structure of the Company
The Orthodox Palestine Society (since 1889 the Imperial, hereinafter IOPS), which arose on a public, even private initiative, from the very beginning carried out its activities under the patronage of the Church, the state, the government, and the ruling dynasty. The Charter of the Society, as well as subsequent changes and additions to it, were submitted through the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod for the highest consideration and approved personally by the Head of State. The Emperor also approved the candidacies of the Chairman and his assistant (since 1889 - Chairman and Vice-Chairman).
The chairmen of the IOPS were Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich (1882-1905), and after his death, Grand Duchess Martyr Elizaveta Feodorovna (1905-1917). Since 1889, the Council of the Society has included, as permanent appointed members, a representative of the Holy Synod and a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and since 1898, also an appointed representative of the Ministry of Public Education. Scientists were elected as members of the Council - from the Academy of Sciences, universities and theological academies.
Among the 43 founding members were well-known representatives of the Russian aristocracy (poet Prince A.A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, historian Count S.D. Sheremetev, admiral and diplomat Count E.V. Putyatin), the highest bureaucratic elite (state controller T.I. Filippov, Director of the Office of the Ministry of Finance D.F. Kobeko, Minister of State Property M.N. Ostrovsky) and scientists (academician-Byzantinist V.G. Vasilievsky, professor of church archeology of the Kyiv Theological Academy A.A. Olesnitsky, literary critic and bibliographer S. .I. Ponomarev).
Membership in the Society was open to everyone who sympathized with its goals and objectives and was interested in the Holy Land and Russian politics in the region. The charter provided for three categories of members: honorary, full and collaborating members. They differed in the degree of involvement in the scientific or practical study of Palestine and the size of annual or one-time (lifetime) contributions.
Having learned that Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich had been appointed head of the Palestine Society, dozens of the best representatives of the Russian nobility hurried to join the ranks of the new organization. In the first year, its honorary members included 13 members of the royal family, headed by Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna. All prime ministers, foreign ministers, almost everyone, starting with K.P. Pobedonostsev, chief prosecutors of the Holy Synod, were members of the Palestine Society in different years.
The management structure of the Society included several links: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Assistant to the Chairman, Secretary, Commissioner of the IOPS (since 1898, Manager of the farmsteads) in Palestine. The composition of the Council (10-12 people) and the number of employees of the Society have always been minimal; dynamism and quality of work at all levels were ensured by strict implementation of the charter, correct and transparent reporting and awareness of the patriotic and religious responsibility of each employee, starting with the Chairman. Sergius Alexandrovich, unlike many other august persons, was not a “wedding general”; he actively participated in the life of the PPO and directed its work. When necessary, I met with ministers and corresponded with them. According to the regulations, ministers (including the head of the foreign policy department) wrote to the Grand Duke reports, and he directed them - from top to bottom - rescripts.
As a result of the rapid and effective implementation of a number of successful construction and scientific-archaeological projects in Palestine, which we will talk about later, the Society acquired sufficient authority so that 7 years after its founding, Sergius Alexandrovich could responsibly raise the question of recognizing the PPO as the only centralized force , directing all Russian work in the Middle East. By the highest decree of March 24, 1989, the Palestine Commission was disbanded, its functions, capital, property and land in the Holy Land were transferred to the Palestine Society, which from that day received the honorary name of the Imperial Society. In a sense, this was a real political revolution. Just look at the published diaries of V.N. Lamzdorf, the future Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then a comrade (deputy) minister, in order to make sure what dissatisfaction was caused in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the fact that Sergei Alexandrovich was actively interfering in the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tried to determine his own line of behavior in the Middle East. And, as time has shown, this line was correct.
The key figure in the entire vertical of the IOPS was the Secretary. During the 35 years of the pre-revolutionary period, this post was occupied by four figures - different by birth, character, education, talent - and each, as they say in such cases, was man in his place. General M.P. Stepanov (1882–1889): military bone, adjutant and courtier, faithful companion and comrade-in-arms of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, a man of extreme experience and tact. V.N. Khitrovo (1889–1903): a scrupulous accountant and statistician - and at the same time a courageous political thinker and publicist, organizer of large-scale humanitarian and educational projects. A prominent Palestinian scholar, founder of scientific publications, editor and bibliographer - and at the same time a talented stylist, author of inspired popular books and brochures. A.P. Belyaev (1903–1906) was a brilliant diplomat, a master of international and inter-church intrigue, and at the same time a highly educated Arabist, a subtle polemicist, open to serious theological dialogue in any dialect of the Arabic language. And finally, A.A. Dmitrievsky (1906–1918) - a great church historian and source scholar, the founder of the traditions of Russian historical liturgics, the best expert on Greek manuscript literature - and at the same time a consistent champion of Russian great power policy in the East, the author of an entire library of works on the history and personalities of the Palestinian Society and the Russian affairs in Palestine.
Of course, none of them (even V.N. Khitrovo, who was amazing in the breadth of his interests) was completely universal; each turned out to be the strongest in his chosen field. But successively replacing each other in a key position for the activities of the IOPS, they not only reveal unsurpassed loyalty and continuity of the line worked out once and for all, but also embody a kind of almost artistic “ensemble” integrity, hardly achievable over a long period of time even for the most united purely human groups and teams. Only religious By the character and selfless service of the founders and leaders of the IOPS, we owe those indisputable accomplishments and achievements with which the 35-year pre-revolutionary period of the Society’s activity was so rich.
Main activities of the IOPS in Palestine
The charter defined three main areas of activity of the IOPS: church-pilgrimage, foreign policy and scientific. To work in different areas, the Society was divided into three corresponding departments. The goals set for each of them can be formulated as follows:
– to assist Russian Orthodox people, subjects of the Russian Empire, in organizing pilgrimages to the Holy Land. For this purpose, land plots were acquired in Palestine, churches and farmsteads with the necessary infrastructure (hotels, canteens, baths, hospitals) were built, preferential rates were provided for pilgrims by train and on ships, accommodation, meals, and driving of pilgrimage groups to holy places were organized. reading qualified lectures for them;
– to provide educational and humanitarian assistance to the peoples of the Middle East and Local Churches on behalf of the Russian state and the Russian people. For this purpose, the IOPS built churches for the Greek clergy at its own expense, opened and maintained schools for Arab children, and provided direct financial assistance to the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch.
– conduct scientific, scientific publishing and educational work to study and popularize knowledge about the Holy Land and other countries of the biblical region, the history of Russian-Palestinian church and cultural ties. The Society conducted and financed scientific expeditions, archaeological excavations, and business trips of IOPS scientists to libraries and ancient repositories of the East. It was planned to create a Russian Scientific Institute in Jerusalem (the First World War interfered). Multifaceted scientific publishing activities were carried out: from the most authoritative scientific publications to popular brochures and leaflets; The “Orthodox Palestine Collection” and the journal “Messages of the IOPS” were regularly published.
Architectural monuments associated with the activities of the Society largely determine the historical appearance of Jerusalem to this day. The first in time was the ensemble of Russian Buildings, including the Trinity Cathedral, the building of the Russian Spiritual Mission, the consulate, the Elizabethan and Mariinsky courtyards and the Russian hospital - inherited by the IOPS from the Palestine Commission. But that was only the beginning. The marvelous Church of Mary Magdalene on the slope of Olivet (consecrated on October 1, 1888) has become a kind of architectural calling card of modern Jerusalem. The famous Sergievsky courtyard, named after the first Chairman of the Society, with a corner round tower on which the “Palestinian flag” - the banner of the IOPS - fluttered on holidays, also acquired symbolic significance. In the very heart of the Old City, near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is the Alexander Metochion, which houses the Gospel Threshold of the Gates of Judgment and the Church of Alexander Nevsky, consecrated on May 22, 1896 in memory of the founder of the Society, Alexander III the Peacemaker. On the Street of the Prophets, the Veniaminovsky courtyard, donated to the Society in 1891 by Abbot Veniamin, has been preserved. The latest in a series of Jerusalem projects is the Nikolaevsky Metochion, so named in memory of the last Russian autocrat (consecrated on December 6, 1905).
History has dealt mercilessly with the legacy of the Palestinian Society - the fruit of many years of expense and effort of our people. The Jerusalem World Court is located in the building of the Spiritual Mission, and the police are located in the Elizabethan Compound (the barbed wire along the perimeter of the walls eloquently indicates that a pre-trial detention center is still located here). The Mariinsky Compound was also turned into a prison by the British; arrested participants in the Zionist terrorist struggle against the British Mandate were kept there. Currently, the “Museum of Jewish Resistance” is located here. Nikolaevskoye Compound is now the building of the Ministry of Justice.
Monuments related to the activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society also exist outside of Jerusalem. In 1901-1904. The Nazareth Compound was built. led book Sergius Alexandrovich, in 1902 - courtyard named after. Speransky in Haifa. (Both sold in the 1964 Orange Deal)
Another important area of activity of the IOPS was, as we said, a multifaceted set of activities covered by the concept of “support for Orthodoxy in the Holy Land.” This concept included direct financial assistance to the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, and the construction of churches in places where Orthodox Arabs live compactly, with their subsequent provision of everything necessary, and diplomatic assistance of the Patriarchate in confronting both the Turkish authorities and heterodox infiltration. But the most effective area of investment was rightly considered to be educational work among the Arab Orthodox population.
The first IOPS schools in Palestine were opened in the year the Society was founded (1882). Since 1895, the educational initiative of the IOPS has spread within the boundaries of the Antioch Patriarchate. Lebanon and Syria became the main springboard for school construction: according to 1909 data, 1,576 people studied in 24 Russian educational institutions in Palestine, and 9,974 students in 77 schools in Syria and Lebanon. This ratio, with minor annual fluctuations, remained until 1914.
On July 5, 1912, Nicholas II approved the law approved by the State Duma on the budgetary financing of IOPS educational institutions in Syria and Lebanon (150 thousand rubles per year). A similar measure was planned for schools in Palestine. The First World War and then the revolution interrupted the Russian humanitarian breakthrough in the Middle East.
Exactly one hundred years ago, on May 21, 1907, the 25th anniversary of the IOPS was solemnly celebrated in St. Petersburg and Jerusalem. In the diary of Emperor Nicholas II, under this date we read: “At 3 o’clock the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Palestine Society took place in the Palace, first a prayer service was served in the Petrovskaya Hall, after which a meeting took place in the Merchant Hall.” The Emperor honored the Chairman of the Society, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, with a rescript, which summed up the results of a quarter century of the Society’s work: “Now, having possessions in Palestine worth almost two million rubles, the IOPS has 8 farmsteads, where up to 10 thousand pilgrims find shelter, a hospital , six hospitals for incoming patients and 101 educational institutions with 10,400 students; Over the course of 25 years, he published 347 publications on Palestinian studies.”
By this time, the Society consisted of more than 3 thousand members, departments of the IOPS operated in 52 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Company's real estate consisted of 28 land plots (26 in Palestine and one each in Lebanon and Syria), with a total area of more than 23.5 hectares. Since, according to Turkish legislation (the lack of land ownership rights for legal entities - institutions and societies), the Palestinian Society could not have its own, legally registered real estate in the East, a third of the plots (10 out of 26) were assigned to the Russian government, the rest were passed off as private property. Including, 8 plots were registered in the name of the chairman of the IOPS, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, 4 were listed as the property of the director of the Nazareth Teachers' Seminary A.G. Kezma, 3 more were listed under the former inspector of the Galilean schools of the Society A.I. Yakubovich, 1 - for former inspector P.P. Nikolaevsky. Over time, it was planned to obtain from the Ottoman government the correct assignment of the Company's properties, but the First World War interfered.
The fate of the IOPS in the 20th century
After the February Revolution, the IOPS ceased to be called “Imperial”, and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna resigned as Chairman. On April 9, 1917, the former vice-chairman, Prince, was elected chairman. A.A. Shirinsky-Shikhmatov. In the fall of 1918, the prince emigrated to Germany. There, not authorized by anyone in Russia, he headed the parallel “Council of the Orthodox Palestine Society” - a kind of “Council in Exile”, uniting some of the former members of the IOPS who found themselves in exile (the future fate of the foreign IOPS is a separate discussion). And the present Council, which remained in its homeland, on October 5 (18), 1918, elected the oldest of its members, Academician V.V., as chairman. Latyshev, who held this post until his death on May 2, 1921. On May 22, 1921, the famous Russian Byzantine scholar, academician F.I. was elected chairman of the Society. Uspensky.
Since 1918, the Society also abandoned the name “Orthodox”; from then on it was called the Russian Palestine Society at the Academy of Sciences and, since any ties with Palestine were interrupted for a long time, it was forced to limit itself exclusively to scientific activity. On September 25, 1918, a new edition of the Society’s charter and the documents necessary for its registration were sent to the Council of Workers, Peasants and Red Army Deputies of the Rozhdestvensky District of Petrograd. On October 24, 1918, an order was received from the People's Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky: “immediately take measures to secure the scientific property of the Palestine Society.” Then came an important postscript: “The revolutionary authorities are pleased to assist the Academy of Sciences in the execution of this assignment.”
As soon as the Soviet state was recognized by European countries, on May 18, 1923, the representative of the RSFSR in London L.B. Krasin sent a note to the British Foreign Secretary Marquis Curzon, which stated: “The Russian government declares that all lands, hotels, hospitals, schools and other buildings, as well as in general all other movable or immovable property of the Palestine Society in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Kaif, Beirut and other places in Palestine and Syria, or wherever it was located (this also meant the St. Nicholas Metochion of the IOPS in Bari, Italy. - N.L.), is the property of the Russian state." On October 29, 1925, the charter of the RPO was registered by the NKVD. Despite the most difficult conditions, during the 1920s, until the early 1930s. The society conducted active scientific work.
The creation of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948), which initially intensified the competition between the West and the East in the struggle for the Middle Eastern bridgehead, made the return of Russian property a relevant and convenient factor in Soviet-Israeli reciprocity. On May 20, 1948, I. Rabinovich was appointed “commissioner for Russian property in Israel”, who, according to him, from the very beginning “did everything possible to transfer property to the Soviet Union.” On September 25, 1950, a decree was issued by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the resumption of the activities of the Palestine Society and the approval of the staff of its representative office in the State of Israel.
The first meeting of the renewed membership of the Society in Moscow took place on January 16, 1951. The chief scientific secretary of the Academy of Sciences, academician A.V., chaired. Topchiev. In his opening remarks, he said: “Due to a number of circumstances, the activities of the Russian Palestine Society were actually interrupted in the early 30s. Considering the recent increased interest of Soviet scientists, and especially orientalists, in the countries of the Middle East, as well as the increased capabilities of Soviet science, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences recognized the need to intensify the activities of the Society as an organization helping Soviet scientists study these countries.” The famous oriental historian S.P. was elected chairman of the RPO. Tolstoy. The Council included academicians V.V. Struve, A.V. Topchiev, Doctor of Historical Sciences N.V. Pigulevskaya, scientific secretary R.P. Dadykin. In March 1951, the official representative of the RPO M.P. arrived in Jerusalem. Kalugin, located at the Jerusalem headquarters of the Society, in the Sergievsky courtyard.
In 1964, most of the real estate owned by the IOPS in Palestine was sold by the Khrushchev government to the Israeli authorities for $4.5 million (the so-called “orange deal”). After the Six-Day War (June 1967) and the severance of relations with Israel, Soviet representatives, including the representative of the RPO, left the country. This had a sad result for the Society: the abandoned representative office in the Sergievsky Compound has not yet been restored.
 O.G. Peresypkin |
 IOPS meeting 2003 |
A new turn at the turn of the 1980s–1990s. associated with the restoration of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the state of Israel and a change in the foreign policy concept traditional for the Soviet period. In 1989, a new chairman came to the Society - the rector of the Diplomatic Academy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation O.G. Peresypkin and scientific secretary V.A. Savushkin. It was during this period that key events for the IOPS took place: the Society gained independence, returned its historical name, began to work according to a new charter, as close as possible to the original one, and restored its main functions - including promoting Orthodox pilgrimage. Members of the IOPS actively participated in scientific conferences in Russia and abroad. In the fall of 1990, for the first time in the entire post-revolutionary period, members of the Society were able to make a pilgrimage trip to the Holy Land to participate in the “Jerusalem Forum: Representatives of Three Religions for Peace in the Middle East.” In subsequent years, more than two dozen pilgrim groups organized by the IOPS visited the Holy Land.
On May 25, 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution to restore the historical name of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and recommended that the government take the necessary measures for the practical restoration and return of its property and rights to the IOPS. On May 14, 1993, Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Government of the Russian Federation V.S. Chernomyrdin signed the following order: “To instruct the Russian Foreign Ministry to conduct negotiations with the Israeli side with the participation of the State Property Committee on the restoration of the Russian Federation’s ownership of the building of the Sergievsky Metochion (Jerusalem) and the corresponding land plot. Upon reaching an agreement, register the said building and land plot as state property of the Russian Federation, transferring, in accordance with the recommendation of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, an apartment in the building of the Sergievsky Metochion for perpetual use to the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.”
Presentation of the golden sign of the IOPS to His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II.
Right: Ya. N. Shchapov (2006)
The re-establishment in the 1990s was of great importance for strengthening the authority of the Society. connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II took the Palestine Society under his direct patronage and headed the Committee of Honorary Members of the IOPS. Honorary members of the Society are Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna, Mayor of Moscow Yu.M. Luzhkov, Rector of the Moscow Medical Academy, Academician M.A. Paltsev and other prominent figures.
In November 2003, the outstanding Russian historian, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya.N. was elected Chairman of the Society. Shchapov. At a meeting of the IOPS Council on March 11, 2004, the heads of the sections were approved: for international activities - Head of the Department for Middle East Settlement (now Deputy Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation O.B. Ozerov, for pilgrimage activities - General Director of the Pilgrimage Center S.Yu. Zhitenev, for scientific and publishing activities - Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences "The Role of Religions in History" Doctor of Historical Sciences A.V. Nazarenko. S.Yu. Zhitenev was appointed Scientific Secretary of the Society in January 2006.
Regional branches operate in St. Petersburg (Chairman - Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, General Director of the State Hermitage M.B. Piotrovsky, Scientific Secretary - Doctor of Historical Sciences E.N. Meshcherskaya), Nizhny Novgorod (Chairman - Dean of the Faculty of International Relations of Nizhny Novgorod State University , Doctor of Historical Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences O.A. Kolobov, Scientific Secretary - Doctor of Historical Sciences A.A. Kornilov), Orle (Chairman - Head of the Information and Analytical Department of the Administration of the Oryol Region, Doctor of Historical Sciences S.V. Fefelov, Scientific Secretary – Doctor of Historical Sciences V.A. Livtsov), Jerusalem (Chairman – P.V. Platonov, Scientific Secretary – T.E. Tyzhnenko) and Bethlehem (Chairman Daoud Matar).
Modern activities of the IOPS
Scientific direction
One of the most important statutory activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society from the very beginning has been and remains scientific work in the field of historical, archaeological, philological research of the Holy Land and other countries of the biblical region. It is enough to name an epoch-making discovery in the field of biblical archeology - the excavations of the Threshold of the Gate of Judgment, through which Christ walked to Golgotha (1883), carried out by Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) on behalf and at the expense of the IOPS.
At the IOPS site in Jericho D.D. Smyshlyaev in 1887 excavated the remains of an ancient Byzantine temple. During the work, objects were found that formed the basis of the Museum of Palestinian Antiquities created at the Alexander Metochion. Of great importance were the studies of Georgian antiquities by Professor A.A., who was sent by the Society to Jerusalem and Sinai. Tsagareli. Active member of the IOPS, famous traveler, doctor-anthropologist A.V. Eliseev walked the ancient route to the Holy Land through the Caucasus and Asia Minor. A special place in the scientific heritage of the Society is occupied by the expedition of 1891 under the leadership of Academician N.P. Kondakov, the result of which was his major work “Syria and Palestine”. More than 1,000 photographs from rare ancient monuments brought by the expedition were included in the photo library of the IOPS. At the very beginning of the 20th century. on the initiative of Professor P.K. Kokovtsev and Secretary of the IOPS V.N. Khitrovo, at the Council of the Society, “Interviews on scientific issues relating to Palestine, Syria and neighboring countries” were organized, which historians later characterized as “one of the few attempts to form a society of Orientalists in Russia with special scientific tasks.”
Already at the height of the First World War, in 1915, the question was raised about the creation, after the end of the war, of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Jerusalem (modeled on the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople that existed in 1894-1914).
In the post-October period, almost all the major orientalists and Byzantinists were members of the Society, and this intellectual force could not be ignored. Members of the Russian Palestine Society at the USSR Academy of Sciences included in the 1920s. academicians F.I. Uspensky (Chairman of the Society in 1921-1928) and N.Ya. Marr (Chairman of the Society in 1928-1934), V.V. Bartold, A.A. Vasiliev, S.A. Zhebelev, P.K. Kokovtsev, I.Yu. Krachkovsky, I.I. Meshchaninov, S.F. Oldenburg, A.I. Sobolevsky, V.V. Struve; Professor D.V. Ainalov, I.D. Andreev, V.N. Beneshevich, A.I. Brilliantov, V.M. Veryuzhsky, A.A. Dmitrievsky, I.A. Karabinov, N.P. Likhachev, M.D. Priselkov, I.I. Sokolov, B.V. Titlinov, I.G. Troitsky, V.V. and M.V. Farmakovskiy, I.G. Frank-Kamenetsky, V.K. Shileiko. Many outstanding scientists in the field of natural science also became members of the Society: academicians V.I. Vernadsky, A.E. Fersman, N.I. Vavilov. The scientific life of the Society was practically uninterrupted, with the possible exception of the most difficult months of “war communism.” Since January 1919, there are documents about more or less regular meetings of the RPO with the presentation of serious reports and topics for discussion. During these years the Society was an active scientific institution, a union of scientists with a broad and varied program.
In 1954, the first issue of the renewed “Palestine Collection” was published. The responsible editor of this and subsequent volumes was N.V. Pigulevskaya. Although not a periodical, The Palestine Collection was published with amazing regularity: from 1954 to 2007. 42 issues were published. Orientalists of the new generation grouped around him: A.V. Bank, I.N. Vinnikov, E.E. Granstrem, A.A. Guber, B.M. Danzig, I.M. Dyakonov, A.G. Lundin, E.N. Meshcherskaya, A.V. Paykova, B.B. Piotrovsky, K.B. Starkov. A.E. belonged to the Moscow section of the RPO “Literary Connections of East and West”. Bertels, V.G. Bryusova, G.K. Wagner, L.P. Zhukovskaya, O.A. Knyazevskaya, O.I. Podobedova, R.A. Simonov, B.L. Fonkich, Ya.N. Shchapov.
Among the most significant scientific events of the IOPS in the 90s of the XX century. should be called the large international scientific symposium “Russia and Palestine: cultural and religious ties and contacts in the past, present and future” (1990), in which scientists from Arab countries, Israel, England, the USA, Germany and Canada took part, conferences dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the death of Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) in 1994 and the 150th anniversary of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem - in Moscow, Balamand (Lebanon), Nazareth (Israel) - in 1997. Already in the new millennium, conferences dedicated to 100th anniversary of the death of the founder of the IOPS V.N. Khitrovo (2003), the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, Bishop Porfiry Uspensky (2004), the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of the first chairman of the IOPS, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich (2005).
Of particular importance, from the point of view of cooperation with Byzantine scholars, were the conferences “Orthodox Byzantium and the Latin West” held by the Society at the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate. (To the 950th anniversary of the division of the Churches and the 800th anniversary of the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders)" (2004), "Russian, Byzantine, Ecumenical", dedicated to the 850th anniversary of the transfer of the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Vladimir (2005) and "Veneration of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon and Russian-Athos connections (on the 1700th anniversary of his blessed death)" (2005).
The active scientific life of the Society continued in 2006-2007. “Historian of the Orthodox East and Russian Palestine” was the title of the church-scientific conference held on March 23, 2006 and dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the secretary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Alexei Afanasyevich Dmitrievsky (1856–1929). His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II sent a greeting to the conference participants, which said:
« I have remembered the days of old, I have learned from all Your works, - these words of the Psalmist are fully applicable to the scientific ministry of Dmitrievsky - a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, a humble worker of the Church - whose spiritual heritage, however, has global significance. One of the first to turn to the study of monuments of Orthodox worship, which he had been looking for for years in the monastery book depositories and sacristies of Athos, Patmos, Jerusalem and Sinai, the scientist managed to create the fundamental “Description of liturgical manuscripts stored in the libraries of the Orthodox East” and many other works, without which it is unthinkable today no scientific research in the field of Byzantine studies.
No less important and instructive is the epic associated with his service in the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, where he was invited by the Chairman of the Society, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, now canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Speech by Metropolitan Kirill at the conference in memory of A. A. Dmitrievsky (2006)
Theologians, scientists, teachers of church and secular universities, and archivists who spoke at the conference noted the versatility of A.A.’s activities. Dmitrievsky as secretary of the IOPS. The same was evidenced by the exposition of Alexei Afanasyevich’s works published in different years, prepared for the opening of the conference by employees of the State Public Historical Library and the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Empire. Conference participants had the opportunity to see the scientist’s books and monographs, manuscripts and documents written in his hand, which have become a bibliographic rarity.
On May 15, 2006, the scientific and public conference “Knight of the Holy Sepulchre,” dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian church and public figure, poet, writer, pilgrim Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov (1806–1874).
The Patriarchal Greeting to the conference participants emphasized: “A well-known poet and writer, a church publicist, who for the first time managed to awaken in wide reading circles interest in the shrines of the East, in Orthodox worship and church history, Andrei Nikolaevich was also a prominent church figure - and first of all, in area of church-canonical relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Orthodox Sister Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch. His tireless labors contributed to the rapprochement of the Russian Church with the Greek Church and a deeper understanding of the spiritual life of the Orthodox East. We owe to Muravyov the fruitful idea of creating the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, established by the Holy Synod in 1847.”
On December 22, 2006, in the development of the traditional Byzantine problems of the IOPS, the church-scientific conference “Empire, Church, Culture: 17 centuries with Constantine” opened at the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Church, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the scientific community highly appreciated the initiative of the IOPS to honor the 1700th anniversary of the accession to the throne of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great with scientific hearings.
The conference was headed by the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation A.V. also spoke about the relevance of Constantine’s legacy in his welcoming speech. Saltanov. “The question of the relationship between the roles of the state and the church in public life, placed at the center of the upcoming discussion, their mutual influence and interpenetration, has been raised by life itself. For one thousand seven hundred years from the time of Emperor Constantine to the present day, it has not lost its relevance, although in different historical eras it was solved differently. A distinctive feature of our time is the equal and mutually respectful cooperation of the Russian Orthodox Church and the state. Their interests, it seems, are fundamentally the same - to strengthen our Fatherland spiritually and materially, to create the prerequisites for its sustainable and healthy development.”
On March 29-30, 2007, an international church-scientific conference “So that what God showed me should not be forgotten” was held, dedicated to the 900th anniversary of Abbot Daniel’s visit to the Holy Land. The scientific forum was attended by famous scientists - historians, philologists, theologians from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland; professors of universities and Theological Academies.
The address of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II to the participants of the Conference, which was read out by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, said: “Nine hundred years ago, the Chernigov abbot Daniel made his pilgrimage, leaving a description of his “walk” as a souvenir for posterity, which became one of the most remarkable monuments our national literature. The artistic and theological depth of this work is amazing even in our time. Today, after a break of many years, the ancient Russian tradition of pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land is being restored. Believers of every diocese, every parish, following Abbot Daniel and many generations of Orthodox pilgrims, have the opportunity to see with their own eyes the shrines of Palestine, where Christians were promised The Kingdom of God Coming in Power(Mark 9:1)."
The chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya.N. Shchapov also addressed the audience. The Palestine Society, he said, from the day of its foundation set itself the task of not only developing the ancient tradition of prayerful visits to the Holy Land by Russian people, but also the scientific task of studying Russian, Byzantine and Western European “walkings”, regularly published in the “Orthodox Palestine Collection”. Prepared and commented by scientists, members of the Palestine Society, publications of the walks of Russian pilgrims (from the “Walk of Abbot Daniel” of the early 12th century to the “Proskinitarium” of Arseny Sukhanov of the 17th century) make up an entire library.
Conference dedicated to the 900th anniversary of Abbot Daniel's visit to the Holy Land. (2007)
The report of His Eminence Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was devoted to the significance of Daniel’s walk in the Russian church tradition. In general, over the two days of the conference, 25 reports were heard, which examined the historical significance of the walk of Abbot Daniel for Russian culture, discussed issues of the centuries-old tradition of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage, the book and artistic culture of Ancient Rus', and the historical connections of Russia and the Holy Land. The conference showed the growing interest of the scientific community in the little-studied issues of Russian pilgrimage, which is one of the vital aspects of popular piety and is directly related to the tasks of the Russian Orthodox presence in the Middle East and in the world.
On the same day, the opening of the exhibition took place at the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev “And I saw everything with my own eyes...” The exhibition, which included, along with ancient icons, manuscripts and maps, authentic relics of the Holy Land brought to Rus' by pilgrims in different centuries, clearly demonstrated how our ancestors perceived holy places, “what attracted them and attracts us,” in the figurative expression of Ya.N. . Shchapov, “to this narrow strip of Mediterranean land, where every Christian feels as if he has returned after a long separation to the home of his childhood.”
Thus, the Palestine Society worthily continues the scientific and spiritual traditions laid down by its great founders.
International activity
The development and planning of the international activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is directly related to the general concept of the Russian presence in the Middle East and in the world. For 125 years now, the Society has been working in close cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, defending state interests in the Holy Land and other countries of the biblical region.
At the present stage, the goal of the Palestinian Society is the full-scale restoration of its legal and actual presence in the traditional space of activity - in Russia and abroad. Solving both pilgrimage and scientific problems is impossible without recreating the largely lost system of historical ties and humanitarian cooperation with the peoples of the Middle East, without resolving issues of foreign ownership of the IOPS, taking into account state, church, scientific and public priorities.
Immediately after the re-registration of the Society by the Ministry of Justice as an international non-governmental self-governing organization (2003), the Council raised the issue of admitting the IOPS to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Thanks to the efforts of Council member O.B. Ozerov and other employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 2005, the Society received the status of an observer member of ECOSOC, which certainly expanded the possibilities of its scientific, humanitarian and peacekeeping activities in the Middle East. A year later, a representative of the IOPS participated for the first time in the work of the ECOSOC General Assembly in Geneva.
Since 2004, efforts related to the return of foreign property of the IOPS to Russia have intensified. From November 28 to December 9, 2004, a delegation of the Society headed by Chairman Ya.N. took a trip. Shchapov for a number of countries in the biblical region (Greece, Israel, Palestine, Egypt). During the trip, members of the delegation visited the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, and in Athens they were received by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Greek Republic, member of the IOPS A.V. Vdovin, in Tel Aviv - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Israel G.P. Tarasov. In Jerusalem, members of the delegation, for the first time in 15 years, visited and inspected the Sergievsky courtyard of the IOPS in order to further work to return it to Russian ownership.
From March 21 to March 25, 2005, Deputy Chairman N.N. Lisova and council member S.Yu. Zhitenev visited the Holy Land. An Act on the condition of the Society’s apartment in the Sergievsky Compound, as well as a list of documents confirming the rights of the IOPS to the indicated premises, were transferred to the Office of the General Guardian of the Ministry of Justice of Israel (the full set of necessary documents was transferred to the Ministry of Justice of Israel a little later, on the eve of the visit to the country of the President of the Russian Federation V. .V. Putin). Thus, the negotiation process for the return of the Sergievsky metochion to Russian ownership was put on a legal basis for the first time.
Negotiations that began in December 2004 at the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs on the procedure for Russian Orthodox pilgrims to visit the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord on Holy Saturday to participate in the Holy Fire service, as well as on expediting the issuance of group pilgrimage visas, were also continued. For the first time, an agreement was reached so that the Russian Orthodox Church would have its own quota for the passage of pilgrims to the Holy Fire.
In 2005, Russian language courses opened in Bethlehem. In the same year, about thirty people from the Palestinian territories were accepted, on the recommendation of the IOPS, to study at Russian universities.
On June 6, 2005, a scheduled meeting of the leadership of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society with Minister S.V. took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Lavrov. The results of the visit of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. were discussed. Putin to Israel and the PNA. The minister informed the meeting participants that during his visit, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin announced the need to return the Sergievsky metochion to Russian ownership. S.V. Lavrov was solemnly presented with the gold badge of the IOPS.
Participants of the International Scientific and Public Conference “Jerusalem in the Russian Spiritual Tradition”
In November 2005, in Jerusalem, on the basis of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, an international scientific and public conference “Jerusalem in the Russian Spiritual Tradition” was organized - the most large-scale foreign scientific event of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society for the entire period of its existence.
Metropolitan Timofey of Vostrsky made a welcoming speech at the conference from the Jerusalem Patriarchate, from the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem - Hegumen Tikhon (Zaitsev), from the Hebrew University (Jerusalem) - Professor Rubin Rechav, who emphasized the desire and readiness of the university to further develop cooperation with Russian scientists . On behalf of the Russian delegation, presentations were made by O.A. Glushkova, S.V. Gnutova, S.Yu. Zhitenev, N.N. Lisova, O.V. Loseva, A.V. Nazarenko, M.V. Rozhdestvenskaya, I.S. Chichurov and others. The Hebrew University was represented by reports from I. Ben-Arye, Ruth Kark, V. Levin, Sh. Nekhushtai, E. Rumanovskaya. Speeches by Arab scientists O. Mahamid, Fuad Farah and others were also heard. At the end of the conference, its participants were received by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem and All Palestine.
Founding meeting of the Bethlehem branch of the IOPS (2005)
On November 3, 2005, in one of the premises of the Sergius Metochion in Jerusalem, the founding meeting of the Jerusalem branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society took place. P.V. was elected chairman of the department. Platonov. In Bethlehem, with the participation of Mayor Victor Batarseh, on November 5, 2005, the founding meeting of the Bethlehem branch of the IOPS took place, the chairman of which was Daoud Matar, who had been collaborating with the Society for a long time.
In connection with the special attention that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and personally Lavrov S.V. have been paying lately. working with non-governmental organizations of the Russian Federation, trying to more actively include them in the foreign policy process and in international relations, the leaders of the IOPS have repeatedly participated in meetings and briefings held by the Ministry for NGOs.
Thus, the Palestinian Society is once again becoming a sought-after instrument and conductor of Russian influence and presence in the Middle East, organically complementing the official intergovernmental and interstate relations of the Russian Federation. I would like to think that Russian diplomats will be able to effectively use the historical and moral potential accumulated by the IOPS in the countries of the biblical region. A necessary condition for this is a correct understanding of the specifics of the Russian Orthodox presence in the world and in the region as a traditional, proven and respected form of Russian presence by partners.
The activities of the IOPS as an Orthodox, non-governmental, self-governing organization can be organically included in the general context of state and public events, with an emphasis on continuing traditional directions and forms of humanitarian and educational work with the local population. To strengthen the favorable image of Russia in the Middle East, an effective means is also to create, with the help of the Palestine Society, active centers of the Russian scientific presence - the restoration of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople and the organization of the Russian Scientific Institute in Jerusalem, the promotion and financing of Russian archaeological excavations in the region, the development of creative ties with scientific institutions of Israel and Arab countries.
Pilgrimage activities of the IOPS
A new impetus was given to the Palestine Society through close cooperation with the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“The Lord will bless you from Zion, and you will see the good of Jerusalem” (Ps. 127:5), is inscribed on the reverse side of the sign of the HIPPO. As His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II said in one of his recent addresses, “today we can say that the Lord from Zion has blessed the children of the Russian Church to restore the ancient tradition of Russian Orthodox pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. An opportunity has arisen for the believers of every diocese, every parish, following Abbot Daniel and many generations of Orthodox pilgrims, to see with their own eyes the shrines of Palestine and testify to the kingdom of God coming in power(Mk.9, 1)."
As Metropolitan Kirill emphasized in his report at the Second Church Conference (2005), “the flourishing of Russian pilgrimage in the 19th century was largely the merit of the Imperial Palestine Orthodox Society, which, as we know, did a lot to ensure that pilgrimage in our country was widespread.”
The pilgrimage section of the IOPS carries out a great deal of church-historical and theological work to understand the phenomenon of Christian pilgrimage, which has been practically unexplored by either ecclesiastical or secular scholars. Thus, on February 12, 2007, a scientific and methodological conference “The Soteriological Meaning of Pilgrimage” was held in the conference hall of the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate. The main report “The Theological Meaning of Pilgrimage” was delivered by the Scientific Secretary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, General Director of the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate S.Yu. Zhitenev. Reports were also heard from I.K. Kuchmaeva, M.N. Gromov and others. Under the leadership of S.Yu. Zhitenev, work began on preparing for the publication of the “Pilgrimage Dictionary”. Such a publication would be especially relevant in connection with the ongoing discussion in the media about the distinction between the concepts of “pilgrimage” and “tourism”. The Pilgrimage Center also organizes advanced training courses for employees of pilgrimage services, in which members of the IOPS take an active part - giving lectures and conducting seminars. The Palestinian Society and its authors are also widely represented on the pages of the Orthodox Pilgrim magazine.
A large place in the popularization of the history and heritage of the Society is occupied by church veneration of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, who served as Chairman of the IOPS in 1905-1917. For several years now, the Pilgrimage Section of the Society, together with the State Academy of Slavic Culture, has been holding St. Elizabeth’s readings in Moscow, usually timed to coincide with the annual exhibition “Orthodox Rus'”. The proceedings of the VI anniversary readings dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of the Grand Duchess were published as a separate book (“Reflection of the Invisible Light.” M., 2005). “Elizabeth Readings” are also published in Nizhny Novgorod, under the editorship of the Chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the IOPS O.A. Kolobov.
Since 2003, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society has been a permanent participant in Russia’s largest church-public exhibition and forum “Orthodox Rus'”. The exhibition brings together everyone whose activities are related to publishing, educational, missionary and social service. The participation of the IOPS has been repeatedly awarded with diplomas and medals from the Exhibition Organizing Committee.
Conclusion
The main result of the 125-year work of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in the Middle East is the creation and preservation of Russian Palestine. The result is unique: a whole infrastructure of churches, monasteries, farmsteads and land plots has been built, acquired, developed and partly still belong to Russia and the Russian Church. A unique operating model of the Russian presence in the world has been created.
Perhaps even more important is the spiritual contribution that is not taken into account by any numbers, which is associated with the journey of tens and hundreds of thousands of Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Christian pilgrimage has been and remains one of the most influential culture-building factors. Historians to this day marvel at this experience of “dialogue of cultures” and “public diplomacy”, unprecedented in history in terms of mass and intensity.
Another, no less important result is the cultural and educational activities of the IOPS among the Arab population. Many representatives of the formed at the beginning of the 20th century. Arab intelligentsia - and not only Palestinian, but also Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, the best writers and journalists, who later became the glory of Arabic literature, came from Russian schools and teachers' seminaries of the Palestinian Society.
In this regard, I would like to quote the wonderful words spoken in 1896 by one of the authoritative hierarchs of the Russian Church, an active member of the IOPS, Archbishop Nikanor (Kamensky):
“The work accomplished by the Russian people through the Palestine Society is unprecedented in the thousand-year history of Russia. Not giving it due attention means being criminally indifferent to the most sacred thing on earth, to your national aspirations, to your calling in the world. Russian people go to the long-suffering Holy Land not with weapons in their hands, but with an ardent and sincere desire to serve the Holy Land with their labors. In the Holy Land, one might say, the first gigantic step of the Russian people in the world-historical educational field is being taken, completely worthy of the great Orthodox Russia.”
Preservation and continuity of traditions and main directions of activity of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society over the past 125 years - despite the change of governments and regimes - under the Tsar, under Soviet power, under democratic and post-democratic Russia, on the one hand, and equally under the Turks, under the British , under the state of Israel, on the other hand, involuntarily makes you wonder what the power of such continuity is. The Holy Land still invisibly but powerfully “orients” (from the Latin Oriens ‘East’) – and stabilizes – Russia’s position in the “mad world” of economic, political, nationalist interests, global restructuring and local wars.
The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the oldest scientific and humanitarian organization in Russia, whose objectives are to promote Orthodox pilgrimage to the Holy Land, scientific Palestinian studies and humanitarian cooperation with the peoples of the Middle East.
The Russian Orthodox Palestine Society was founded in 1882 by decree of Emperor Alexander III. The initiator of the creation of the society, its inspirer and honorary member was the famous Russian expert on Palestine, a prominent St. Petersburg official Vasily Nikolaevich Khitrovo. On May 8, 1882, the charter of the society was approved, and on May 21 in St. Petersburg, in the presence of members of the imperial family, Russian and Greek clergy, scientists and diplomats, the grand opening of the society took place.
In 1889, the society received the honorary title "Imperial" and was accepted under the direct patronage of the reigning house. Until 1905, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPOS) was headed by Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich; after his death, the chairmanship passed to his widow Elizabeth Feodorovna. Members of the society at different times were representatives of the royal family and aristocracy, high state dignitaries, public and scientific figures, including S.Yu. Witte, P.A. Stolypin, K.P. Pobedonostsev, A.A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, S. D. Sheremetev, E. V. Putyatin and many others.
The society was created to provide assistance to Orthodox pilgrims, support the interests of the Orthodox Church in the Middle East, educational and humanitarian assistance to the population of Palestine, and scientific research into the heritage of Christianity in the Holy Land.
To assist the Orthodox in organizing pilgrimages to the Holy Land, the IOPS acquired plots of land in Palestine, built farmsteads with the necessary infrastructure, organized travel and accommodation for pilgrims, visited holy places and gave lectures for them. Already in 1907, the society had 8 farmsteads, providing shelter for 10 thousand pilgrims, including the Sergievskoye and Nikolaevskoye metochions in Jerusalem.
In order to provide educational and humanitarian assistance to the peoples of the Middle East and local churches, churches were built for the Greek clergy, schools for children were opened, and financial assistance was provided to the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch. With the assistance of the society, the churches of St. Mary Magdalene, St. Sergei of Radonezh, St. St. George the Victorious and others. In Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, male and female teachers' seminaries were opened in Nazareth and Beit Jala and 101 educational institutions for children. Over 5.5 thousand boys and 6 thousand girls, mainly from Orthodox families, studied there free of charge.
As part of its scientific activities, the society conducted scientific expeditions, archaeological excavations, and scientific research. It played a huge role in the development of Russian oriental studies. The “Orthodox Palestine Collection”, “Messages of the IOPS” and “Reports of the IOPS” published works on the history and culture of the peoples of the Middle East, and texts of literary monuments. These publications quickly gained international fame and recognition in scientific circles.
The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was engaged in the dissemination and popularization of knowledge about Palestine and its neighboring countries among the Russian public. Lectures, readings and exhibitions about the Holy Land were an important part of the national religious and educational work.
The active work of the IOPS was stopped after the outbreak of the First World War and the 1917 revolution. The Palestinian society in 1917 ceased to be called “Imperial”, and since 1918 it ceased to be called “Orthodox”. It was transferred under the management of the USSR Academy of Sciences and became the Russian Palestine Society under the Academy of Sciences. His activities were reduced to scientific research within the framework of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Only 75 years later, on May 22, 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR returned the society to its historical name and recommended that the government take measures to restore the traditional activities of the IOPS and return the organization’s property and rights. In 1993, the society was re-registered by the Ministry of Justice as the successor to the pre-revolutionary Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and the Soviet-era Russian Palestine Society.
IOPS today has 22 regional Russian branches, foreign branches in Israel, Palestine, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Jordan, Estonia, Cyprus, Ukraine, Malta. The Center of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is located in Bethlehem, and the Russian Center for Science and Culture is located on its base. The society is registered by the UN as a member of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for coordinating cooperation in the economic and social fields.
The goal of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the full-scale restoration of its legal and actual presence in Russia and abroad to solve pilgrimage, scientific and humanitarian problems. Only in the last five years, the society has managed to resolve such complex issues as the return of Russian property on the territory of another state - the Sergievsky metochion in Jerusalem and land plots in Jericho, to reach agreements on the opening of a Russian school and the Cultural and Business Center of the IOPS in Bethlehem, and on the creation of a new branch society in Ramallah. As part of its activities, the IOPS continues the tradition of organizing pilgrimages to the Holy Land, takes part in international conferences, and conducts research on the history and culture of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea region and the Middle East in connection with the history of Russia. In 2008, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society decided to establish the Russian Historical Institute with representatives in the traditional scientific centers of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East (Istanbul, Venice, Jerusalem).
The main link in the structure of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society is the Council of the Society, headed by the Chairman of the IOPS.
Since June 2007, the chairman of the IOPS has been Sergei Stepashin; since 2009, the Committee of Honorary Members of the IOPS has been headed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.
