"Varsanophy"

- CONTENT--
Varsanothy, or Varsonophy - Orthodox priest, who lived in the XV century in Kiev. One of the first known pilgrims of Russia to the Holy Land. It is believed that he gave the first description of Egypt and Sinai in East Slavic literature.

In 1456 Varsanophy made his first pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The second journey of the monk took more than a year. From 1461 to 1462 Varsanophy made his way from Kiev to Constantinople, then through the islands of Crete and Cyprus reached the Egyptian city of Dumyat, from where he reached Cairo by the Nile River. The monk stayed in Cairo for six weeks and then returned to Jerusalem.

Varsanophy’s story about his journey for a long time was a source of information about Egypt, contained the first known in Russia description of the “gold-stretched Nile”, the city of Cairo (“old Misur”), the crocodile (“the fierce beast”), the date palm and the first mention in Russia of the Egyptian pyramids, which Varsanophy, according to the Christian tradition of that time, called the breadbaskets of Joseph (“the breadbaskets of Yosif Prekrasnago beyond the river beyond the Nile against the old Misur”). Varsanophy’s story was published several times, the last time in St. Petersburg in 1896 under the title “The Walking of St. Varsanophy to the Holy City of Jerusalem in 1456, 1461 and 1462”.

Notes

Sources
Prokofiev A. I. Walking Barsonofy In Egypt, Sinai and Palestine. Notes of Russian travelers of the XI-XV centuries. – M.: Soviet Russia, 1984.
The journey of the priest Barsonofius to the holy city of Jerusalem in 1456 and 1461-1462. / edited by S. O. Dolgov // Orthodox Palestinian collection. - St. Petersburg, 1896. - Vol 15. - Issue 45. - pp. 4, 45, 59.

Personalities alphabetically
Persons of the fifteenth century
Hieromonks of the Russian Orthodox Church
Orthodox pilgrims
Wikipedia:Personals not categorized by year of birth
Wikipedia:Personals not categorized by place of birth
Russian Travelers
Old Russian writers of the XV century
Russian-speaking travel writers