The pilgrimage of Siberians to Palestine in the late XIX – beginning of XX centuries: a statistical analysis experience

The article, based on archival materials brought into scientific circulation for the first time – statistical reports of Russian farmsteads in Jerusalem, stored in the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire – characterizes the scale of pilgrimage of Siberian residents to the Holy Land (Palestine) in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The authors continue the research conducted in the late 19th century by the founder of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Vasily Nikolaevich Khitrovo. Mainly historical and statistical methods, as well as analysis and synthesis are used. The number of pilgrims from various administrative units (governments, regions) of the region is established. A trend of growth in the total number of pilgrims from Siberia is noted, which, however, was not absolute, since there were sharp fluctuations caused mainly by political reasons. It is indicated that up to four fifths of all pilgrims were residents of Western Siberia - Tomsk and Tobolsk provinces, the period of stay of Siberians at Russian farmsteads in Jerusalem averaged from one to one and a half months for men, and more than two months for women. The specifics of Siberia include a larger proportion of men among pilgrims than in Russia as a whole, the absence of women's pilgrimage memoirs, diaries and notes. The directions of further research are determined by the need to conduct similar studies and calculations in other regions of the country. In the future, the results obtained will allow us to assess the nature and regional features of this unique historical phenomenon associated with the organization of the largest organized trip of Russians outside the country.