Koptev, A.B.: Memoirs on the Journey to Constantinople, Cairo and Jerusalem in 1887

Title

Vospominanie o poezdke v Konstantinopol’, Kair i Ierusalim v 1887, Sankt-Peterburg 1888

Memoirs on the Journey to Constantinople, Cairo and Jerusalem in 1887

Keywords

Summary

The book is divided into seven chapters and it includes a preface in which the author explains that in March 1888, after leaving Odessa to reach Constantinople, Alexandria and Cairo, he travelled also to Jaffa and Jerusalem. He addresses the reader, claiming that though his travel notes may perhaps be uninteresting, they are definitely “true, fair, and impartial”. In the opening chapter the author recalls leaving Odessa and reaching Constantinople, and provides a historical and cultural overview of the city. In chapter two the author sails to Egypt, stops on the island Syros and arrives in Alexandria. Chapter three is devoted to the journey from Alexandria to Cairo and provides an overview of the landmarks of the Egyptian capital. In Chapter four the author leaves Cairo and reaches Port Said, before sailing to Jaffa. In the following chapter the author visits the Holy Land and, finally, returns to Constantinople. The book is provided with practical information for tourists, including hotels, food, transportation, cost of the tickets for the various steamboats, as well as details on first-class, second-class and third-class cabins.

Bio

Aleksandr Koptev was an active member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society since 1883. His name is engraved on one of the 23 memorial plaques installed at the Alexander compound, built by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society in 1891 in Jerusalem on the site of the Judgment Gate excavations. The plaques contain 40 names of people who made a significant contribution to the establishment and development of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Koptev is the author of Memoirs on the Journey to Constantinople, Cairo and Jerusalem in 1887 (1888) and Travel Notes on Sweden and Norway to the North Cape in 1892 (1893).

Sources

Imena deiateli IPPO, uvekovechennye na memorial’nykh doskakh Aleksandrovskogo podvor’ia v Ierusalime, https://www.ippo.ru/historyippo/article/imena-deyateley-ippo-uvekovechennye-na-memorialnyh-200591.

M.E.