To the Issue of the Establishment and Activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society: Some Cultural, Organizational and Geopolitical Aspects; [К вопросу о создании и деятельности Императорского православного палестинского общества: некоторые культурные, организационные и геополитические аспекты]

The article examines the process of the establishment and activities of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in the XIX century. The authors pay attention to some cultural, organizational, as well as geopolitical issues. As sources there were used the official documents of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (for example, the Charter), as well as materials of the pre-revolutionary periodical press, such as the official organ of the society - the newspaper “Russkii palomnik”, which was published since 1885. In conclusion, the authors state that by the middle of the XIX century, a difficult situation was developing for Orthodoxy and Orthodox in the Middle East, which was explained by the creation of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the region and the opening of a significant number of Catholic schools. At the same time, the number of Orthodox pilgrims from Russia to the Holy Land sharply increased, who faced a large number of organizational difficulties in traveling through the Holy Land. To ease the fate of the pilgrims and the local Orthodox population, two spiritual missions were sent there, and in 1858 a Palestinian Committee has been established. The Committee managed to solve the pressing problems of pilgrims by acquiring special farmsteads, nevertheless, very soon the number of pilgrims increased even more, and the Russian government established the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in 1882. Relying on state support and donations from Russian benefactors, a significant number of institutions of the society were opened in the Holy Land, including farmsteads, schools and medical outpatient clinics. All this in general allowed not only to preserve Orthodoxy in the Middle East in the pre-revolutionary period, but also to strengthen the influence of the Russian Empire on the entire Middle East region. © 2022 International Network Center for Fundamental and Applied Research. All rights reserved.