“Upon seeing the Archimandrite of our Embassy, everyone rose and greeted him in a friendly Manner…”: The Pilgrimage of Archimandrite Sophonia (Sokolsky) to Mount Athos in 1849 (towards a Historical Reconstruction)

The article reconstructs a little- known episode in the biography of the first Archbishop of Turkestan, Sophonia (Sokolsky): his pilgrimage to Mount Athos in August 1849, undertaken while he served as an archimandrite and rector of the church of the Russian Diplomatic Mission in Constantinople. Drawing on previously unused sources, the study reconstructs both the chronology and itinerary of the journey, as well as the identities of his companions. It argues that this pilgrimage constituted a distinct voyage, unconnected with Archimandrite Sophonia’s subsequent pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1850. The article establishes the sequence of his movements across Athos — departure from Constantinople on 4 August 1849, arrival at the Great Lavra on 7 August, visits to Iveron on 8 August, Vatopedi and Karyes on 9–10 August, and return to Constantinople on 15 August — and demonstrates that, despite the absence of any personal written testimony, the Athonite encounters proved significant for the spiritual biography of the future hierarch.