The beginning of communication of Orthodox churches traces its origin in the days when Russian patriarchate didn’t exist, i.e. until 1589. The representatives of the Orthodox Churches of the Middle East [1]— Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, which were under Ottoman domination in 1516–1517 years came to Moscow for spiritual fellowship and for financial assistance. Since that time active correspondence has been maintained between Moscow and Middle Eastern patriarchates.

First contacts of Patriarchate of Alexandria with Russia began under Patriarch of Alexandria St. Joachim I [2], who sent a mission to Moscow Grand Prince Vasiliy III, the main objective of which was to obtain financial assistance. In 1556 a new embassy of St. Joachim departed to Ivan IV the Terrible.

One cannot ignore that Ivan IV, crowned in 1547, i.e. having become equal to descended from the historical stage Byzantine Caesars [3], sought to assert its authority in the Orthodox world. To achieve this objective a mission headed by merchant VasilyPoznyakov to the Middle East was organized, where huge, but highly targeted donations had been made. During his visit, Poznyakov met with St Joachim and the Patriarch of Jerusalem Herman I. In connection with this the visit of Metropolitan of Bethlehem Joachim to the court of Ivan IV in 1582–1584 can be considered as a return visit from the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“VasilyPoznyakov— participant of the embassy sent by Tsar Ivan IV to Tsargrad [4], Alexandria, Sinai, Jerusalem in 1558 in order to provide financial assistance to the Sinai Monastery of St. Catherine which suffered from the Turks. Patriarch of Alexandria Joachim applied for this help with official missive letter to the Tsar and Metropolitan of Moscow. Embassy from Moscow to the East (through Smolensk, Lithuania [5], Voloshskaya land [6]), which lasted more than two and a half years had met some difficulties and challenges: in Lithuania it was robbed, 300 rubles in cash and valuable furs were taken away; archdeacon Gennady died in Constantinople. But still some secular people remained as a part of the embassy, in particular, Smolensk merchant VasilyPoznyakov with son, KozmaSaltanov from Pskov, Dorofei from Smolensk and others. It’s unknown who kept record and made description of walking to the Orthodox shrines of the East. Yet at the end of the XVI century it was the basis of walking of TryphonKorobeinikov, which permanently displaced the memory of the actual trip of Poznyakov, the details about which are saved in the second Novgorod Chronicle.

Value of VasilyPoznyakov walking lies in richness in legends and news heard by the travelers when visiting monasteries and churches of the Orthodox East. Some legends date back to the biblical plots, such as the one about the Prophet Elijah, about the deeds of the prophet Moses and others; there also are a lot of mentions and people from New Testament [7]. Apocryphal stories take significant place in the walking. One of the plots, the miracle with the Patriarch of Alexandria Joachim, was included as a separate story into the Russian Chronograph and Old Russian collections of XVII–XVIII centuries.

The same task, financial assistance to the Middle East Orthodoxy, was completed in 1583 by Ivan Mishenin and aforementioned TrifonKorobeynikov and Mikhail Ogarkov and the same TrifonKorobeynikov in 1593. However, in these both cases Russian tsars themselves had a need for spiritual communication: “Moscow merchant, and there is a speculation that he also was a clerk, Trifon Korobeynikov… was a participant of the Embassy of Ivan IV to Constantinople and Mount Athos, sent in 1582 in remembrance of soul of the murdered prince John Ivanovich. In 1593–1594 years Korobeynikov visited Constantinople and Jerusalem with the clerk M. Ogarkov, sent again with alms, but grace, for the birth of princess Feodosia.”[8]

In 1603 the Jerusalem delegation from Patriarch Sophronius IV headed by Archimandrite and oncoming Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophan III made a return visit to the court of Boris Godunov. Theophan III, already being the Patriarch, visited Moscow for the second time in 1619 in connection with the enthronement of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Philaret.

In 1585–1586 years Patriarch of Antioch Joachim V took a trip to Russia and became the first representative of Eastern Orthodoxy, who personally visited Moscow. He was forced by plight of his throne, which had big debts. His visit was used by Tsar Feodor Ivanovich to start negotiations on establishment Patriarchate in Rus. Joachim agreed to intercede for it after returning to the East. As a result, in 1590 the Metropolitan of Moscow Job was exalted in the rank of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Patriarchate of Jerusalem greatly influenced Russian church life: as a result of activity of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Paisius, who repeatedly visited Moscow in 1630–1640-ies., i.e. before his enthronement, Patriarch of Moscow Nikon began his church reform. This is confirmed by the fact, that the reform of Nikon, began after the visit to Moscow of Envoy of Patriarch Paisius Metropolitan Gavriil Blasius.

Macarius III, Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Alexandria Paisius was the first of Alexandria Primates who visited Russia: in 1666 he arrived to Moscow, where he took part in the Great Moscow Council as a co-chair of Patriarch of Antioch Macarius III [9], who condemned Nikon and excommunicated old believers from the Church.

Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheus II personally selected teachers for opened in Moscow in 1687 Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy to strengthen his influence.
Appeared under the Patriarch of Jerusalem Paisius aspiration of some Middle Eastern patriarchs to participation in purely foreign policy affairs acquired the most pronounced character under Dositheus II. However, their influence as of political agents of Russia began to decline later in connection with expansion of its network of consulates in the Ottoman Empire.[10]
 
References
1.Adrianova-Peretts V.P. Puteshestviia.[The travels.] Book I, part. VIII. M.—L., 1941.
2.Attaia M.O. PatriarkhAntiokhiiskiiMakariiistareishiispisok ego puteshestviianaRus' arkhidiakonaPavlaAleppskogo. [Patriarch Macarius of Antioch and the oldest list of his travels to Russia Archdeacon Paul of Aleppo.]M., 1913.
3.Bazili K.M. SiriiaiPalestina pod turetskimvladychestvom v istoricheskomipoliticheskomotnosheniiakh. [Syria and Palestine under Turkish rule in the historical and political relations.] M.—Ierusalim, 2007.
4.Gibbenet N. IstoricheskoeissledovaniedelapatriarkhaNikona. [Historical research of Patriarch Nikon's affairs.]SPb., 1882–1884.
5.Ivanov N.A. Sistema milletov v Arabskikhstranakh XVI–XVII vv. [Millet system in Arab countries XVI–XVII centuries.] // Vostok. 1992, № 6.
6.Kapterev N.F. KharakterotnosheniiRossii k pravoslavnomuVostoku v XVI i XVII stoletiiakh. [Nature of relations between Russia and the Orthodox East in the XVI and XVII centuries.]SergievPosad, 1914.
7.Kapterev N.F. Snosheniiaierusalimskikhpatriarkhov s russkimpravitel'stvom. [Patriarch of Jerusalem relationship with the Russian government].—In 2 vols.SPb., 1895–1898.
8.Kapterev N.F. SnosheniiaierusalimskogopatriarkhaDosifeia s russkimpravitel'stvom (1669–1707). [Patriarch of Jerusalem Dosifey relations with the Russian government (1669–1707).]M., 1891.
9.KobishchanovT.Iu. Khristianskieobshchiny v arabo-osmanskom mire.(XVII – pervaiatret' XIX v.).[Christian communities in the Arab-Ottoman world.(XVII – the first third of the XIX century).]M., 2003.
10.KrachkovskiiI.Iu. OpisanieputeshestviiaMakariiaAntiokhiiskogokakpamiatnikarabskoigeograficheskoiliteraturyikakistochnikpoistoriiRossii v XVII v. [Description Macarius of Antioch, as a monument to Arab geographical literature and as a source for the history of Russia in the XVII century]. — In :AkademikI.Iu. Krachkovskii.Izbrannyisochineniia.[Selected Writings.] Book I. M.—L., 1955.
11.Lebedev A.P. Istoriiagreko-vostochnoitserkvi pod vlast'iuturok. OtpadeniiaKonstantinopolia do nastoiashchegovremeni. [History of the Greek Eastern Church under Turkish rule.From the fall of Constantinople to the present.]—In 2 vols.SergievPosad, 1896–1901.
12.Murav'ev A. SnosheniiaRossii s Vostokom.[Russia's relations with the East.]SPb., 1858.
13.Nikolaevskii P. IzistoriisnosheniiRossii s Vostokom v polovine XVII v. [From the history of relations between Russia and the East half of the XVII century.] —In 2 vols. SPb., 1882.
14.Panchenko K.A. BlizhnevostochnoePravoslavie pod osmanskimvladychestvom. Pervye tri stoletiia.[Middle Eastern Orthodoxy under the Ottoman rule. The first three centuries.] M., 2012.
15.Panchenko K.A. Osmanskaiaimperiiaisud'bypravoslaviianaArabskomvostoke (XVI – nachalo XIX v.). [The Ottoman Empire and the fate of Orthodoxy in the Arab East (XVI – beginning of XIX c.).]M., 1998.
16.Prokof'ev N.I. «Khozhdeniia» kakzhanr v drevnerusskoi literature ["Wandering" as a genre in ancient literature] // UchenyezapiskiMoskovskogogosudarstvennogopedagogicheskogoinstituta. 228. Voprosyrusskoiliteratury. [Proceedings of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute.228. Questions of Russian literature.]M., 1960.
17.AleksandriiskaiaPravoslavnaiaTserkov'. [Orthodox Church of Alexandria] — in:Pravoslavnaiaentsiklopediia. [Orthodox Encyclopedia.]Book I. M., 2000.
18.AntiokhiiskaiaPravoslavnaiaTserkov'. [Antiochian Orthodox Church] — In:Pravoslavnaiaentsiklopediia. [Orthodox Encyclopedia.] T. I. M., 2000.
19.IerusalimskaiaPravoslavnaiaTserkov'.— V kn.: Pravoslavnaiaentsiklopediia. T. XXI. [Jerusalem Orthodox Church.]—In : Orthodox Encyclopedia. T. XXI.M., 2009.
20.KhozhdenienaVostokgostiaVasiliiaPozniakova s tovarishchi. [Walking to the East of guest VasiliyPoznyakov and comrades.] — In:BibliotekaliteraturyDrevneiRusi. [Library literature of ancient Russia.]Book 10: XVI century.SPb., 2000.
21.Khozhdeniia v SviatuiuZemliuiputeshestviiavoobshche. [Walking in the Holy Land and travel in general.] — In:Peretts V.N. Izlektsiipometodologiiistoriirusskoiliteratury. [The lectures on the history of Russian literature methodology.]Kiev, 1914.
22.KhozheniekuptsaVasiliiaPozniakovapoSviatymMestamVostoka. [Walking merchant VasilyPoznyakova on holy places of the East] — In:Pravoslavnyipalestinskiisbornik. [Orthodox Palestinian compilation.]Book 6, part.3. SPb., 1887.
23.PravoslavnyearabyiMoskovskoetsarstvo v XVI–XVII vv. — V kn.: Panchenko K.A. Pravoslavnyearaby: Put' cherezveka. [Orthodox Arabs and Muscovy in the XVI–XVII centuries.—In:Panchenko K.A. Orthodox Arabs: The path through the centuries.] M., 2013.
24.PuteshestvieAntiokhiiskogoPatriarkhaMakariia v Moskvu v seredine XVII.[The travel of Macarius Patriarch of Antioch to Moscow in mid-XVII.]SPb., 1898.
25.PuteshestvieantiokhiiskogopatriarkhaMakariia v Rossiiu v polovine XVII veka, opisannoe ego synom, arkhidiakonomPavlomAleppskim. Vypusk 1 (Ot Aleppo do zemlikazakov) [Travel Macarius Patriarch of Antioch to Russia in half of the XVII century, described by his son, Archdeacon Paul Aleppo. Issue 1 (from Aleppo to land Cossacks)] // Chteniia v obshchestveistoriiidrevnosteirossiiskikh. [Society of Russian History and Antiquities.]Book 4 (179). 1896.
26.PuteshestviemoskovskikhkuptsovTrifonaKorobeinikovaiIuriiaGrekovapoSviatymMestam v 1582 godu. [Travel Moscow merchants TryphonKorobeinikova and Yuri Grekova to the Holy Places in 1582.] — In:Skazaniiarusskogonaroda, sobrannye I. Sakharovym. [Tales of the Russian people gathered by I. Sakharov.]Book 2, part 8.SPb., 1849.
27.Russkiekhozhdeniia XII–XV vv. [ Russian walking XII–XV centuries] // UchenyezapiskiMoskovskogogosudarstvennogopedagogicheskogoinstituta. 362. LiteraturaDrevneiRusii XVIII vek.[Proceedings of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute.362. Literature Ancient Rus and XVIII century.]M., 1970.
28.Slovar' knizhnikoviknizhnostiDrevneiRusi. [Dictionary of the scribes and literature of ancient Russia.]Vol. 2, ch. 1.L., 1988; vol. 2, ch. 2.L., 1989.
29.«Poslanietsaria Ivana Vasil'evicha k AleksandriiskomuPatriarkhuIoakimu s kuptsomVasiliemPozniakovym» i «KhozhdeniekuptsaPozniakova v IerusalimipoinymSviatymMestam 1558 goda». ["Message of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich to Alexandria Patriarch Joachim with merchant VasilyPoznyakova" and "Walking merchant VasilyPoznyakova in Jerusalem on other holy places in 1558".]M., 1884.
 
NOTES
[1]The relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which are advisable to consider in a separate study.
[2] In 2003, the Orthodox Church of Alexandria canonized Joachim I and the same year, the Holy Synod added his name to the diptych of saints of the Russian Orthodox Church (commemorating — September 17, Julian calendar). [Electronic resource] URL:http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/2025397.html (in Russian).
[3] Byzantine Empire ceased to exist with the conquering of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
[4] Constantinople. (P.G. note).
[5] Huge Lithuanian-Russian state, which included, besides the Lithuanian territory, territories of modern Belarus and most of Ukraine is implied under Lithuania. (P.G. note).
[6] Territory of modern Romania. (P.G. note).
[7] Comment to the notes “Walking to the East of guest VasiliyPoznyakov and comrades” [«KhozhdenienaVostokgostiaVasiliiaPozniakova s tovarishchi»] of the research officer of the Institute of Russian Literature of Russian Academy of Sciences O.A. Belobrovaya. — In: Library of Old Rus literature. [BibliotekaliteraturyDrevneiRusi.] Book 10: XVI cen. St. Petersburg, 2000, p. 569.
[8] Puteshestviia v SviatuiuZemliu. Zapiskirusskikhpalomnikoviputeshestvennikov [Travel to the Holy Land.Notes of Russian pilgrims and travelers.]М., 1995, p. 50.
[9] Pavel Gusterin. About visits of Orthodox patriarchs. [Electronic resource] // The International Journal of Arab Studies (Arabinform) [Official website]. URL: http://arabinform.com/publ/o_vizitakh_pravoslavnykh_patriarkhov/125-1-0-1142 (in Russian).
[10] Pavel Gusterin. Diplomatic missions and consular offices of the Russian Empire on the territory of modern Arab states. [Electronic resource] // The International Journal of Arab Studies (Arabinform) [Official website]. URL: http://arabinform.com/publ/diplomaticheskie_predstavitelstva_i_konsulskie_uchrezhdenija_rossijskoj_imperii_na_territorii_sovremennykh_arabskikh_gosudarstv/14-1-0-1135 (in Russian).