The publication of documents offered to the reader belongs to the pen of P.A. Tolstoy, the first count in this family, the ancestor of three great writers and many famous figures of Russian culture and state. In 1707-1714. he was the first permanent ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the history of our country. His ambassadorial diary and reports are the most interesting materials on the history of the Ottoman Empire and Russian-Turkish relations of that time. The description of the Black Sea published here and information about the Turkish fleet give the modern reader an idea of how Russia began to develop this region and what it was like at the beginning of the 18th century. This is the first description of this kind known to us.

CONTENTS: Introductory article 6Archaeo-raphical introduction 57Description of the Black Sea 65Description of the Erean archipelago 129Ottoman fleet 215Description of Turkish naval vessels 216Naval fleet 223Extract on the Turkish fleet 286Index of theoretical names 29 0Index of proper names 294Index of churches and monasteries 297Literature 298