Pictures of Athos by Damaskin, Hierodeacon of the Chudov Monastery. The Discoveries of 2015

There are few descriptions of the journeys on Mount Athos in the Slavic literature. The Greek text of the Proskynetarion by Byzantine nobleman John Komnenos, compiled and published in Ungrovlahia in 1701, has a Slavonic translation, made in 1701 by Damaskin, hierodeacon of the Chudov Monastery (the first edition by archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin), 1883, the second edition by doctor of philology T.A. Isachenko, 2015). The Greek text of 1701 is as rare as the Slavonic manuscript: they are today in the same list. The discovery of T.A. Isachenko (summer 2015), who found the Proskynetarion of John Konmenos in the collections of the Museum-Reserve of Yaroslavl (Snagov, 1701, the book belonged to archbishop of Rostov and Yaroslavl Arseny), allows to clarify all inaccuracies of the Slavonic translation, to prepare the publication of the Greek and Slavonic texts. The relevance of the project is substantiated by the upcoming anniversary: in 2016, it is the 1000th anniversary of the ancient monastic life on Mount Athos.

Mount Athos, journeys, the Proskynetarion, Greek primary source, John Komnenos, hierodeacon Damaskin, archbishop Arseny of Yaroslavl

1. Kavelin L. Afonskaya gora i Solovetskii monastyr’: Trudy chudovskogo ierodiakona Damaskina (1701—1706) [Afon Mountain and Solovetsky Monastery: Works of Chudovsky Hierodeacon Damaskin (1701—1706)]. St. Petersburg, 1883, vol. X, 102 p.

2. Kavelin L. “Proskinitarii Svyatoi Gory Afonskoi” (vstupit. stat’ya) [Pilgrimage to Holy Athos Mountain], Afonskaya gora i Solovetskii monastyr’: Trudy chudovskogo ierodiakona Damaskina (1701—1706). St. Petersburg, 1883, vol. X, 102 p.

3. Luk’yanov V.V. [Short Description of the Manuscripts of Yaroslavl Region Local History Museum Collection], Kraevedcheskie zapiski [Local Lore Notes]. Yaroslavl, 1958, issue III, no. 548, p. 132.

4. Yakhontov I.K. Ierodiakon Damaskin, russkii polemist semnadtsatogo veka [Hierodeacon Damaskin, Russian Debater of the 17th Century]. St. Petersburg, 1884, p. 14, 94—95.

5. Silogava V.I., Chentsova V.G. [Iversky Monastery of the 17th cent.], Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya [Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Moscow, 2009, vol. 21, pp. 24—60.

6. Isachenko T.A. [“Spiritual Testament” of Evfimiy Chudovsky and other unknown materials], Kniga: issledovaniya i materialy [Book. Research. Materials]. Moscow, 1994, vol. 69, pp. 171—179.

7. Pantos D. [Johan Metropolitan Komnin, Metropolitan Dristrskiy (1657—1719): Life as Church Service, Life as Written Heritage]. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2007, 300 p. (in Greek).

8. Bychkov A.F. Bibliologicheskii slovar’ i chernovye k nemu materialy P.M. Stroeva [Bibliological Dictionary and Materials by P.M. Stroev], St. Petersburg, 1882, pp. 74—75.

9. Isachenko T.A. [Afon Articles in the Composition of Manuscripts of Yaroslavl Pontifical House: Questions of Attribution and Dating], “Kratkoe povestvovanie, chem raznstvuet Svyataya Gora Afon ot nashego Solovetskogo monastyrya, i chem raznstvuyut monastyri Svyatoi Gory ot obiteli Solovetskoi” ierodiakona Chudova monastyrya Damaskina (1705) [Short Narration How the Holy Mountain Athos differs from our Solovetsky Monastery and how differ the Holy Mountain Monasteries from Solovetsky Monastery by Damaskin, Hierodeacon of the Chudov Monastery]. Moscow, RFK Imidzh Lab. Publ., 2015, pp. 39—73.

10. Isachenko T.A. [The Visit to the Holy Mountain Athos of Chudovsky Hierodeacon Damaskin, and Forgotten Legend about Sanctuaries of Athos and Russia], Afon i slavyanskii mir, [Proc. Int. Sci. Conf. “Athos and Slavic World”, dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Russians Presence on the Holy Mount (Kiev, 21—23 of May)]. Athos, 2016, pp. 316—333.

11. Semenova L.E. Antim Iviryanu [Anthim the Iberian], Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya [Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Moscow, 2001, vol. 2, pp. 488—489.

12. Strempel G. Antim Ivireanul [Anthim the Iberian], Academiei Romane. Bucuresti, 1997, p. 120.

13. Titov A.A. [The Last Rostov Archbishop Arseny IV Vereshchagin], Istoricheskii Vestnik [Historical Bulletin], 1886, no. 2, pp. 392—396.

14. Belyaeva A.V. [Arseny (Vereshchagin Vasilii Ivanovich; 1736—1799), Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov], Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediya [Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Moscow, 2001, vol. 3, pp. 398—399.