Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky) (1804-1885) – an outstanding representative of the Russian Orthodox Church and the most interesting personality of the 19th century. Russian orientalist, Byzantine scholar, traveler, Bible translator and famous archaeologist. Among his many achievements, what especially stands out is the creation of the first Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem.
In the middle of 1845, Porfiry (Uspensky) went to Athos, where he stayed until June 1846, visiting all the Athos monasteries and carefully studying their libraries. He compiled a detailed list of manuscripts stored on Mount Athos, and even rewrote many of them. The result of the activities of Porfiry (Uspensky) was his work on the history of Mount Athos, covering the period from ancient times to the middle of the 19th century. He described in detail the natural conditions of Athos, the most interesting architectural monuments, explained the origin of the name of the area, and gave a description of its inhabitants. From this book, the modern reader will learn a lot of new information – historical events, legends about the Holy Mountain, a lot of interesting data about the construction of the Athos monasteries, the life and works of their inhabitants.