Famous ancient travelers. The most famous travelers and their discoveries

1. FAMOUS TRAVELERS OF THE ANCIENT BREMEH

Hanno (505) - Herodotus (484) - Pytheas (340) - Eudoxus (146) - Strabo (63)

Hanno of Carthage - Happy Islands (Canaries), Evening Horn, South Horn, Rio de Oro Bay - Herodotus visits Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Phenicia, Arabia, Babylonia, Persia, Media, Colchis, the Caspian Sea, Scythia and Thrace - Pytheas explores the shores of Iberia and Celtish, the English Channel, Albion Island, the Orcadian (Orkney) Islands, the land of Thule - Nearchus circles the Asian coast from the Indus to the Persian Gulf - Eudoxus gets acquainted with the western coast of Africa - Strabo travels through Inner Asia, Egypt, Greece and Italy

The first traveler to be mentioned in historical sources was Gannon, sent by the Carthaginian 1 (numbers, see note at the end) Senate to colonize new territories on the western coast of Africa. The message about this expedition was written in Punic 2 and translated into Greek; it is known as Hanno's circumnavigation of the world by sea. What era did this explorer live in? Historians have different opinions. But the most reliable is the version according to which his visit to the African shores dates back to 505 BC 3 .

Navigation map of the Argonauts

The South Horn was without a doubt the end point reached by the Punic expedition. Some historians claim that the Carthaginian fleet did not go further than Cape Bojador, located two degrees north of the tropic, but the first point of view seems to us more likely.

Upon reaching the South Horn, Gannon began to run short of provisions. Then he turned north and returned to Carthage, where, by his order, a marble slab was placed in the temple of Baal Moloch with a description of the journey “around the world” carved on it.

After the Carthaginian navigator, the Greek scientist was the most famous of the ancient travelers in historical times. Herodotus called "the father of history". For our purpose, we will separate the traveler from the historian and follow him to the countries he has visited.

Greek galley. 500 BC

Herodotus was born about 484 BC 9 in the Asia Minor city of Halicarnassus. He came from a wealthy and distinguished family with extensive trade connections, which may have contributed to the development of the instincts of the traveler-explorer, awakened in the boy.

In that era, there was no consensus on the shape of the Earth. The school of Pythagoras has already begun to spread the doctrine that the Earth is spherical. But Herodotus did not take any part in these disputes, which worried the scientists of his time. In his early youth, he left his homeland with the intention of carefully studying distant countries, about which very scarce and contradictory information reached.

In 464, at the age of twenty, he left Halicarnassus. Apparently, Herodotus first went to Egypt, where he visited the cities of Memphis, Heliopolis and Thebes. During the trip, he managed to get a lot of valuable information about the floods of the Nile. In his notes, he gives various opinions regarding the origins of this great river, which the Egyptians revered as a deity.

“When the Nile floods,” says Herodotus, “nothing is visible but cities; they seem to be built on top of the water and resemble the islands of the Aegean."

Herodotus tells about the religious rites of the Egyptians, about how they make sacrifices to their gods and how they solemnly celebrate holidays in honor of the goddess Isis in the city of Buziris, the ruins of which are still visible today. Herodotus also tells how the Egyptians revere wild and domestic animals, considering them sacred, and give them funeral honors. With the precision of a real naturalist, he describes the Nile crocodile and its habits; describes the methods by which crocodiles are caught. We will find out what other animals are found there and what the Egyptian hippopotamus, the ibis bird, and various snakes represent.

Herodotus draws the domestic life of the Egyptians, their customs, games, talks about the art of embalming the dead, which the Egyptians mastered to perfection. Further, he reports what structures were erected under Pharaoh Cheops: a labyrinth built near Lake Merisa, the remains of which were discovered in 1799; lake Meris, created by human hands, and two pyramids rising above the surface of its waters; Herodotus tells with surprise about the temples erected in Memphis, about the famous colossus of solid stone, over the transportation of which from Elephantine 10 to Sais two thousand people worked for three years.

Having carefully studied Egypt, Herodotus went to other countries of Libya, that is, Africa, but at the same time the young traveler did not even imagine that Africa extended far to the south, beyond the Tropic of Cancer; he believed that the Phoenicians could go around this mainland and return to Egypt through the Strait of Gibraltar 11 .

Egyptian ship. 1600 BC

Listing the peoples living in Libya, Herodotus mentions the shepherd tribes wandering along the coast of Africa, and also names the Ammonians who live in the depths of the country, in places abounding with predatory animals. The Ammonians built the famous Temple of Zeus of Ammon, the ruins of which were discovered in the northeast of the Libyan Desert, 500 kilometers from the city of Cairo 12 . He also describes in detail the customs and customs of the Libyans and reports what animals are found in this country: snakes of terrible size, lions, elephants, horned donkeys (probably rhinos), baboon monkeys - “animals without a head, with eyes on their chests”, foxes , hyenas, porcupines, wild sheep, panthers, etc.

According to Herodotus, Libya is inhabited by two peoples: Libyans and Ethiopians. But did he really travel through this country? Historians doubt this. Most likely, he wrote down many details from the words of the Egyptians. But there is no doubt that he actually sailed to the city of Tyre, in Phoenicia, since here he gives quite accurate descriptions. In addition, Herodotus collected information on which he compiled a brief description of Syria and Palestine.

Following that, Herodotus descends south - to Arabia, the country he calls Asiatic Ethiopia, that is, to that part of South Arabia, which he considers the last inhabited land. The Arabs living on the Arabian Peninsula, according to him, are strictly religious people. In their country, valuable plants grow in abundance, from which frankincense and myrrh are obtained. The traveler reports interesting details about how fragrant substances are extracted from these plants.

Then we meet Herodotus in the countries he vaguely calls either Assyria or Babylonia. He begins his account of these countries with a careful description of Babylon, where kings have lived since the destruction of the ancient capital of Nineveh. The ruins of Nineveh have survived to this day, in the form of mounds scattered along both banks of the Euphrates, at a distance of 78 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. The large, fast and deep river Euphrates then divided the city of Nineveh into two parts. In one towered the fortified royal palace, in the other - the temple of Zeus. Further, Herodotus speaks of the two queens of Babylon - Semiramis and Nitocris; then proceeds to a description of crafts and agriculture, reporting how wheat, barley, millet, sesame, grapes, fig trees and palm trees are cultivated in this country.

Having studied Babylon, Herodotus went to Persia and, since the purpose of his trip was to collect accurate information about the long Greco-Persian wars, he visited the places where these wars took place in order to get all the details he needed on the spot. Herodotus begins this part of his history with a description of the customs of the Persians. They, unlike other peoples, did not give their gods a human form, did not erect temples or altars in their honor, being content with the performance of religious rites on the tops of mountains.

Further, Herodotus speaks of the life and customs of the Persians. They have an aversion to meat, a love of fruit, and a taste for wine; they show interest in foreign customs, love pleasures, value military prowess, take seriously the upbringing of children, respect the right to life of everyone, even a slave; they hate lies and debts, they despise lepers. The disease of leprosy serves as proof for them that "the unfortunate one has sinned against the Sun."

The marriage was accompanied by national publicity

The India of Herodotus, according to Vivien de Saint-Martin 13 , is limited to the countries irrigated by the five tributaries of the present Panjnad and the territory of Afghanistan. The young traveler directed his way there, leaving the Persian kingdom 14 . Indians, in his opinion, are the most numerous of the known peoples. Some of them lead a settled way of life, others constantly wander. The tribes living in the east of this country, according to Herodotus, not only kill the sick and the elderly, but allegedly even eat them. The tribes living in the north are distinguished by their courage and skill in crafts. Their land is rich in golden sand.

Herodotus believes that India is the last inhabited country in the East. It retains in all seasons the same fertile climate as in Greece, located at the opposite end of the earth.

Then the indefatigable Herodotus went to Media 15, where he compiled the history of the Medes, the first people who overthrew the yoke of the Assyrians. The Medes founded the huge city of Ecbatana (Hamadan), which was surrounded by seven rows of walls. Having crossed the mountains separating Media from Colchis, the Greek traveler penetrated into the country, glorified by the exploits of Jason 16, and studied with his characteristic conscientiousness its customs and customs.

Athenian merchant ship. 500 BC

Herodotus, apparently, was well acquainted with the outlines of the Caspian Sea. He says that "this sea is in itself, and has no communication with another." The Caspian Sea, according to him, is bounded in the west by the Caucasus Mountains, and in the east by a vast plain inhabited by the Massagets, who probably belonged to a Scythian tribe. The Massagetae worshiped the sun and sacrificed horses to it. Herodotus also speaks of the large river Arak, which flows into the Caspian Sea.

Then the traveler gets to Scythia. Scythians - by definition of Herodotus - various tribes inhabiting the vast space between the Danube and the Don, that is, a significant part of European Russia. The most numerous and strong Herodotus calls the tribe of "princely Scythians", who occupied the banks of the Tanais (Don) River. In addition, Herodotus mentions the tribes of Scythian nomads and Scythian farmers.

Although Herodotus lists various Scythian tribes, it is not known whether he personally visited the countries located north of Pontus Euxinus 17 . He describes in detail the customs of these tribes and is sincerely delighted with Pontus Euxinus - this "hospitable sea." Herodotus determines the dimensions of the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, Propontis 18 and the Sea of ​​Azov, and his definitions are almost correct. He lists the great rivers flowing into the Black Sea: the Ister, or Danube; Borisfen, or the Dnieper; Tanais, or Don.

The traveler conveys many myths about the origin of the Scythian people; in these myths, a large role is assigned to Hercules. He ends the description of Scythia with a story about the marriages of the Scythians with warlike women from the Amazon tribe, which, in his opinion, can explain the Scythian custom, which consists in the fact that a girl cannot marry until she kills the enemy.

From Scythia Herodotus arrived in Thrace. There he learned about the Khets - the most courageous people who inhabited this country 19 . Then he traveled to Greece, where he wanted to collect the missing information for his story. He visited the areas where the main events of the Greco-Persian wars took place, including the Thermopylae Pass, the Marathon Field and Plataea. Then he returned to Asia Minor and traveled around its coast, exploring the numerous colonies founded there by the Greeks.

Returning 28 years old to his homeland, Halicarnassus, the famous traveler took part in the popular movement against the tyrant Lygdamis and contributed to his overthrow. In 444 BC, Herodotus attended the Panathenaic festivals and read passages from the description of his travels there, arousing general enthusiasm. At the end of his life, he retired to Italy, to Thurium, where he died in 426 BC, leaving behind the fame of a famous traveler and an even more famous historian.

After Herodotus, we will step over a century and a half, mentioning a doctor named Ctesias, a contemporary of Xenophon 20 . Ctesias wrote an account of his journey through India, although there is no reliable information that he actually made it.

In chronological order, let's move on to Pytheas from Massilia - a traveler, geographer and astronomer, one of the most learned men of his time. In 340 BC, Pytheas ventured to set sail across the Atlantic Ocean on a single ship. Instead of following the coast of Africa to the south, as his Carthaginian predecessors usually did, Pytheas went north, where he began to explore the coast of the Iberian Peninsula 21 and the coast of the country of the Celts, up to the granite cape Finisterre. Then Pytheas entered the English Channel and landed on the island of Albion 22. He met the inhabitants of this island, who, according to him, were distinguished by good nature, honesty, moderation and ingenuity. They traded in tin, for which merchants from distant countries came here.

Continuing north, Pytheas passed the Orkney Islands, located at the northern tip of Scotland, and rose to such a latitude where "in summer the night did not exceed two hours." After a six-day voyage across the North Sea, Pytheas reached the land known since then as the Extreme Thule (Ultima Thule). Apparently, it was the Scandinavian peninsula. But Pytheas could no longer move further north. “Further,” he says, “there was no sea, no land, no air.”

Pytheas was forced to turn back, but his journey did not end there: he sailed east and arrived at the mouth of the Rhine, where the Ostions lived, and even further the Germans. From there he sailed to the mouth of a great river which he calls Thais (probably the Elba) and then sailed back to Massilia and returned to his native city a year after he left it.

The remarkable traveler Pytheas was no less remarkable a scientist; he was the first to prove the influence of the moon on the tides of the sea and noticed that the North Star does not occupy a point in the sky that is located above the very earthly pole, which was subsequently confirmed by science.

A few years after Pytheas, around 326 BC, another Greek traveler became famous for his research - nearhs islands of Crete. As commander of the fleet of Alexander the Great, he was ordered to go around the entire coast of Asia from the Indus to the Euphrates.

The sailors of Nearchus scare the whales

The idea of ​​such an expedition was caused by the need to establish communication between India and Egypt, in which Alexander was extremely interested, being at that time with his army 800 miles from the coast, in the upper reaches of the Indus. The commander equipped a fleet for Nearchus, consisting of thirty-three double-deck galleys and a large number of transport ships, which housed two thousand people. While Nearchus sailed with his fleet down the Indus, Alexander's army followed him along both banks. Having reached the Indian Ocean four months later, Nearchus sailed along the coast, which is now the border of Balochistan.

Nearchus launched into the sea on the second of October, without waiting for the favorable winter monsoon, which could have favored his navigation. Therefore, during the forty days of the journey, Nearchus barely managed to swim 80 miles to the west. His first stations were made in Stura and in Koreestis; these names do not correspond to any of the current villages located in those places. Then he sailed to the island of Crokala, which lies not far from the modern Carantian Bay. The fleet, broken by storms, took refuge in a natural harbor, which Nearchus was forced to strengthen "to protect against the attack of savages."

Twenty-four days later, the naval commander of Alexander the Great again set sail and set sail. Violent storms forced him to make frequent stops at various places along the coast and defend himself against the attacks of the Arabites, who were described by Eastern historians as "a barbarian people, wearing long hair, growing beards and looking like fauns or bears."

After many adventures and skirmishes with the coastal tribes, Nearchus landed on the land of the Orites, which in modern geography bears the name: Cape Moran. "In this region," Nearchus notes, describing his journey, "the sun at noon illuminated all objects vertically, and they did not cast a shadow." But Nearchus, apparently, is mistaken, since at this time of the year the daylight was in the southern hemisphere, on the tropic of Capricorn, and not in the northern hemisphere; in addition, the ships of Nearchus always sailed at a distance of several degrees from the Tropic of Cancer; consequently, even in summer in these areas, the sun at noon could not illuminate objects vertically.

As the northeast monsoon set in, sailing continued under favorable conditions. Nearchus followed the shores of the country of ichthyophages, that is, "people who eat fish" - a rather miserable tribe, which, due to lack of pastures, was forced to feed its sheep with seafood. Here the fleet of Nearchus began to lack food supplies. Rounding Cape Posmi, Nearchus took a native helmsman to his galley. Driven by coastal winds, the ships of Nearchus successfully moved forward. The beach became less barren. There were trees here and there. Nearchus moored at the city of ichthyophages, whose name he does not indicate, and, suddenly attacking the inhabitants, by force seized from them the supplies that his fleet so needed.

Then the ships arrived in Kanazida, in other words, the city of Churbar. The ruins of this city can still be seen now near the bay of the same name. By that time, the Macedonians were running out of bread. In vain did Nearchus stop at Kanat, at Troy, and at Dagazir—he failed to get anything from these impoverished peoples. The seafarers had no more meat or bread, and yet they did not dare to eat turtles, which abound in these countries.

Almost at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, the fleet encountered a large herd of whales. The frightened sailors wanted to turn back the galleys, but Nearchus boldly went forward on his ship, towards the sea monsters, which they managed to disperse.

On reaching Carmania 23, the ships swerved to the northwest. The shores here were fertile; everywhere came across grain fields, vast pastures, fruit trees. Nearchus anchored off Badis, today's Jask. Then, rounding Cape Maceta or Mussendon, the navigators found themselves at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, to which Nearchus, like the Arab geographers, gives the unusual name of the Red Sea.

In the harbor of Harmosius (Ormuz), Nearchus learned that Alexander's army was five days away. Having landed on the shore, he hurried to join the conqueror. Alexander, having received no news of his fleet for twenty-one weeks, no longer hoped to see him. One can imagine the commander's joy when Nearchus, emaciated beyond recognition, appeared before him whole and unharmed! To celebrate his return, Alexander ordered gymnastic games to be held and plentiful sacrifices to be made to the gods. Then Nearchus again went to Harmosia, where he left his fleet in order to sail from there to the mouth of the Euphrates.

Sailing along the Persian Gulf, the Macedonian fleet landed on many islands, and then, rounding Cape Bestion, sailed to the island of Keishu, on the border of Carmania. Then Persia began. The ships of Nearchus, following along the Persian coast, stopped at different places to stock up on bread, which Alexander sent here.

After several days of sailing, Nearchus arrived at the mouth of the Endian River, then reached the river flowing out of the large lake teeming with fish Catatherbis, and finally dropped anchor near the Babylonian village of Degela, not far from the mouth of the Euphrates, thus sailing along the entire Persian coast. Here Nearchus joined the army of Alexander the Great for the second time, who generously rewarded him and appointed him the head of his entire fleet. Alexander also wanted to undertake an exploration of the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf, up to the Red Sea, and establish a sea route from Persia and Babylon to Egypt, but death prevented him from carrying out this plan.

Nearchus compiled a description of his journey, unfortunately not preserved. A detailed account of his voyages is contained in the book of the Greek historian Flavius ​​​​Arrian 24 "History of India", which has come down to us in fragments.

Nearchus is believed to have been killed at the Battle of Ipsus. He left behind the glory of a skilled navigator, and his journey is an important event in the history of navigation.

Now we should also mention the bold enterprise of the Greek geographer Eudoxa who lived in the 2nd century BC. Having visited Egypt and the shores of India, this brave traveler had the intention of going around Africa, which in reality was only accomplished sixteen centuries later by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama.

Eudoxus hired a large ship and two launches and set off through the unfamiliar waters of the Atlantic Ocean. How far did he bring his ships? It's hard to define. Be that as it may, having become acquainted with the natives, whom he mistook for Ethiopians, he returned to Mauritania, and from there he crossed over to Iberia and began preparations for a new extensive journey around Africa. Has this journey been made? Doubtful. It must be said that this Eudoxus, a man certainly brave, does not deserve much trust. In any case, scientists do not take it seriously.

Roman galley. 110 BC

Among the ancient travelers, it remains for us to mention the names of Caesar and Strabo. Julius Caesar 26, born in 100 BC, was primarily a conqueror and did not aim to explore new countries. Let us only recall that in 58 BC he began to conquer Gaul and ten years later brought his legions to the shores of Great Britain, which was inhabited by peoples of Germanic origin.

As for, born in Cappadocia on 27 around 63 AD, he is known more as a geographer than a traveler. However, he traveled through Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, Italy and lived for a long time in Rome, where he died in the last years of the reign of Tiberius. Strabo left a "Geography", divided into seventeen books, most of which has survived to our time. This work, together with the writings of Ptolemy, constitutes the most important monument of ancient Greek geography.

On August 18, we celebrate the birthday of the Russian Geographical Society - one of the oldest Russian public organizations, and the only one that has continuously existed since its inception in 1845.

Just think about it: neither wars, nor revolutions, nor periods of devastation, timelessness, and the collapse of the country did not stop its existence! There have always been daredevils, scientists, mad researchers who, both in prosperous and in the most difficult times, took any risk for the sake of science. And even now, at the moment, new full members of the Russian Geographical Society are on their way. "MIR 24" tells only about some of the great travelers who glorified the Russian Geographical Society.

Ivan Krusenstern (1770 - 1846)

Photo: unknown artist, 1838.

Russian navigator, admiral, one of the initiators of the creation of the Russian Geographical Society. He led the first Russian round-the-world expedition.

Even in his youth, fellow students in the Naval Cadet Corps noted the unbending, "sea" character of the future Russian admiral. His faithful colleague, friend and rival Yuri Lisyansky, who became the commander of the second ship in their legendary circumnavigation, noted that the main qualities of cadet Kruzenshtern were "reliability, commitment and lack of interest in everyday life."

It was then, during the years of study, that his dreams were born to explore distant lands and oceans. However, they did not come true soon, only in 1803. The first Russian round-the-world expedition included the ships "Nadezhda" and "Neva".
During this expedition, a new route was established to the Russian possessions in Kamchatka and Alaska. The western coast of Japan, the southern and eastern parts of Sakhalin were plotted on the map, and part of the Kuril ridge was comprehensively studied.

Photo: "I. F. Krusenstern in Avacha Bay, Friedrich Georg Veich, 1806

During his round-the-world trip, measurements of current speed, temperature at different depths, determination of salinity and specific gravity of water, and much more were carried out. Thus, Ivan Kruzenshtern became one of the founders of Russian oceanology.

Pyotr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827 - 1914)

Photo: Alexandre Quinet, 1870

Vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and its leading scientist - but not an armchair. He was a brave and stubborn pioneer. He explored Altai, Tarbagatai, Semirechensky and Zailiysky Alatau, Lake Issyk-Kul. Only mountaineers will be able to appreciate the way the brave traveler traveled through the hard-to-reach mountains of the Central Tien Shan, where Europeans have not yet been able to reach. He discovered and for the first time conquered the peak of Khan Tengri with glaciers on its slopes and proved that the opinion of the international scientific world that a range of volcanoes erupts in these places is erroneous. The scientist also found out where the sources of the Naryn, Sarydzhaz and Chu rivers come from, penetrated into the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, which had not been traveled before.

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky became the actual creator of the new Russian geographical school, offering the international scientific world a fundamentally new way of knowledge. Being at the same time a geologist, botanist and zoologist, he first began to consider natural systems in their unity. And he compared the geological structure of the mountains with the mountainous relief and revealed patterns on which the entire scientific world later began to rely.

Nikolai Miklukho-Maclay (1846-1888)

Photo: ITAR-TASS, 1963

The famous Russian traveler, anthropologist, explorer, who made a number of expeditions to the previously unexplored New Guinea and other Pacific islands. Accompanied by only two servants, he lived among the Papuans for a long time, collected the richest materials about primitive peoples, made friends with them, and helped them.

In his travels, Miklouho-Maclay also collected a lot of information about the peoples of Indonesia and Malaya, the Philippines, Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia and western Polynesia. He was ahead of his time. His work was not sufficiently appreciated in the 19th century, but anthropological researchers of the 20th and 21st centuries consider his contribution to science to be a real scientific feat.

Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839-1888)

Photo: ITAR-TASS, 1948

Russian military figure, major general, one of the greatest Russian geographers and travelers, who consciously prepared himself for travel since the gymnasium.

Przhevalsky devoted 11 years of his life to long expeditions. First, he led a two-year expedition to the Ussuri region (1867-1869), and after that, in 1870-1885, he made four trips to the little-known regions of Central Asia.

The first expedition in the region of Central Asia was devoted to the study of Mongolia, China and Tibet. Przhevalsky collected scientific evidence that the Gobi is not a plateau, and the Nanshan mountains are not a ridge, but a mountain system. The explorer owns the discovery of a whole series of mountains, ranges, and lakes.

During the second expedition, the scientist discovered new Altyntag mountains, and for the first time described two rivers and a lake. And the border of the Tibet highlands, thanks to his research, had to be moved more than 300 km to the north on the maps.

In the third expedition, Przhevalsky singled out several ranges in Nanshan, Kunlun and Tibet, described Lake Kukunor, as well as the upper reaches of the great rivers of China, the Huang He and Yangtze. Despite his illness, the discoverer also organized the fourth expedition to Tibet in 1883-1885, during which he discovered a number of new lakes and ridges.

He described more than 30 thousand kilometers of the path he traveled, collected unique collections. He discovered not only mountains and rivers, but also hitherto unknown representatives of the animal world: a wild camel, a Tibetan bear, a wild horse.
Like many prominent geographers of that time, Przhevalsky was the owner of a good and lively literary language. He wrote several books about his travels, in which he gave a vivid description of Asia: its flora, fauna, climate and the peoples inhabiting it.

Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944)

Photo: Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, 1912

Ancestor of the era of color photography in Russia. He was the first to capture in color nature, cities and people's lives on a vast stretch from the Baltic Sea to the East of Russia.

He created a system of color reproduction for photography: from the recipe of the emulsion that is applied to glass plates for photography, to the drawings of special equipment for color photography and the projection of the resulting color images.

Since 1903, he has been constantly on trips: with the obsession of a real traveler, he takes pictures of the natural beauties of Russia, its inhabitants, cities, architectural monuments - all the true sights of the Russian Empire.

In December 1906-January 1907 Prokudin-Gorsky traveled to Turkestan with an expedition of the Russian Geographical Society to photograph the solar eclipse. It was not possible to capture the eclipse in color, but the ancient monuments of Bukhara and Samarkand, colorful local types of people and much more were filmed.

In the autumn of 1908, Nicholas II himself provided Prokudin-Gorsky with the necessary vehicles and gave permission to shoot in any place, so that the photographer could capture “in natural colors” all the main sights of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. In total, it is planned to take 10 thousand pictures in 10 years.

A few days after meeting with the tsar, the photographer sets off along the Mariinsky waterway from St. Petersburg almost to the Volga itself. For three and a half years he has been constantly moving and taking pictures. First, he takes pictures of the northern part of the industrial Urals. Then he makes two trips along the Volga, capturing it from its very source to Nizhny Novgorod. In between, he shoots the southern part of the Urals. And then - numerous monuments of antiquity in Kostroma and the Yaroslavl province. In the spring and autumn of 1911, the photographer manages to visit the Trans-Caspian region and Turkestan twice more, where he tried color filming for the first time in history.

This is followed by two photo expeditions to the Caucasus, where he photographs the Mugan steppe, undertakes a grandiose trip along the planned Kama-Tobolsk waterway, conducts extensive surveys of areas associated with the memory of the Patriotic War of 1812 - from Maloyaroslavets to Lithuanian Vilna, photographs Ryazan, Suzdal, construction of the Kuzminskaya and Beloomutovskaya dams on the Oka.

Then financial difficulties begin, the financing of expeditions is interrupted. In 1913-1914. Prokudin-Gorsky is engaged in the creation of the first color cinema. But the First World War prevented the further development of this new project. None of Prokudin-Gorsky's experimental color films has yet been found.

Artur Chilingarov (born 1939)

Photo: Lev Fedoseev/ITAR-TASS

Famous polar explorer, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation, prominent Russian scientist, author of a number of scientific papers on the development of the North and the Arctic. Lives and works in Moscow.

Since 1963, he has been studying the Arctic Ocean and the oceanic atmosphere at the Arctic Research Observatory in the village of Tiksi. In 1969, he headed the North Pole-19 station, created on drifting ice, since 1971 he worked as the head of the Bellingshausen station, and since 1973 - the head of the North Pole-22 station. In 1985, he led an operation to rescue the expedition ship Mikhail Somov, which was covered in Antarctic ice. The icebreaker "Vladivostok" broke the ice around the diesel-electric ship and freed its crew from the blockade, which lasted as much as 133 days.

In 1987, Chilingarov led the team of the nuclear-powered icebreaker Sibir, which reached the geographic North Pole in free navigation. In January 2002, the traveler proved the possibility of operating light aircraft in Antarctica: he reached the South Pole on a single-engine An-ZT aircraft.

Photo: Roman Denisov/ITAR-TASS

In the summer of 2007, the famous polar explorer led an Arctic expedition aboard the Akademik Fedorov, which proved that the Arctic Ocean shelf is a continuation of the Siberian continental platform. The Mir-1 and Mir-2 vehicles were submerged to the bottom of the ocean, one of which was carrying Chilingarov himself. He also set a kind of record as the first person in the world to visit both the South and North Poles within six months.

Nikolai Litau (born 1955)

Photo: from the archive

Honored Master of Sports, Russian yachtsman, who made three round-the-world trips on the Apostol Andrey yacht built under his leadership. Awarded with the Order of Courage. During three round-the-world trips, Apostol Andrew left 110,000 nautical miles astern, visited all the continents of the planet, passed all the oceans and set five world records.

Here is what Nikolai Litau told a MIR 24 correspondent: “I made three round-the-world voyages on the Apostle Andrey. The first is around the Eastern Hemisphere through the Northern Sea Route, the second is around the Western Hemisphere, through the straits of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and the third is the Antarctic: in 2005-06 we circled Antarctica, all the time being above 60 degrees of latitude, the invisible border of Antarctica. The latter has not yet been repeated by anyone. The fourth global voyage, in which I happened to take part, took place in 2012-13. It was an international round-the-world trip, its route passed mainly through warm and comfortable tropical latitudes. I was the captain-mentor on the Russian yacht Royal Leopard and covered half the distance. During this voyage, I crossed my jubilee - the tenth equator. In recent years, we have been engaged in memorial trips on the yacht "Apostol Andrei" in the Russian Arctic. We recall the names of outstanding Russian sailors: Vladimir Rusanov, Georgy Sedov, Boris Vilkitsky, Georgy Brusilov and others.”

Photo: from the archive

Exactly one year ago, Nikolai Litau traveled to the Arctic for the eleventh time on the yacht Apostol Andrey. The route of this journey passed through the White, Barents and Kara Seas, the islands of the Arctic Institute in the Kara Sea were explored. Ahead - new expeditions.

Everything that we now know was once discovered by people - pioneers. Some crossed the ocean for the first time and found a new land, someone became the discoverer of space, someone was the first to dive in a bathyscaphe into the world's deepest cavity. Thanks to the ten pioneers below, today we know the world for what it really is.

• Leif Eriksson/Leifur Eiriksson is the first European of Icelandic origin who, according to some scholars, was the first to visit the continent of North America. Around the 11th century, this Scandinavian sailor lost his course and landed on some coast, which he later called "Vinland". Documentary, of course, there is no evidence of exactly in which part of North America he moored. Some archaeologists claim that they managed to discover Viking settlements in Newfoundland, Canada.

• Sacajawea, or Sacagawea / Sakakawea, Sacajawea is a girl of Indian origin, on whom Maryweather Lewis and his partner William Clark completely relied on during their expedition, the path of which ran through the entire American continent. The girl walked with these researchers more than 6473 kilometers. On top of that, the girl had a newborn baby in her arms. During this journey in 1805, Sacagawea found her lost brother. The girl is mentioned in the movie "Night at the Museum" and "Night at the Museum 2".

• Christopher Columbus / Christopher Columbus - a navigator of Spanish origin who discovered America, but due to the fact that he and his expedition were looking for a sea route to India, Christopher believed that the lands he had discovered were Indian. In 1492, his expedition discovered the Bahamas, Cuba and a number of other islands in the Caribbean. Christopher set sail for the first time at the age of 13.

• Amerigo Vespucci is the man after whom the continent America was named. Although, in fact, Columbus made this discovery, it was American Vespucci who documented the “find”. In 1502, he explored the shores of South America, and it was then that the well-deserved fame and honor came to him.

• James Cook / James Cook - a captain who managed to sail much further into southern waters than any of his contemporaries. Cook owns a proven fact about the falsity of the northern route through the Arctic from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is known that Captain James Cook made 2 round-the-world expeditions, mapped the islands in the Pacific Ocean, as well as Australia, for which he was later eaten by the natives. That's how gratitude is.

• William Beebe is a 20th century naturalist explorer. In 1934, he descended 922 meters on a bathysphere and told people that "the world under water is no less strange than on another planet." Although how does he know how to live on other planets?

• Chuck Yeager is a general in the US Air Force. In 1947, the first one broke the sound barrier. In 1952, Chuck flew at twice the speed of sound. Chuck Yeager, in addition to setting speed records, was a trainer for pilots of such space programs as Apollo, Gemini and Mercury.

• Louise Arne Boyd / Louise Boyd is also known to the world under the nickname "Ice Woman". She got this nickname thanks to her explorations of Greenland. In 1955, she flew over the North Pole and was the first woman to do so in an airplane. She also has the discovery of an underwater mountain range in the Arctic Ocean.

• Yuri Gagarin / Yuri Gagarin - April 12, 1961, the first of all people living on our planet, was in space. His first flight lasted as much as 108 minutes. It was a real achievement in astronautics.

• Anousheh Ansari is the first female space tourist. She made her flight in September 2006. To her achievements, one can add the fact that she was the first of all those who have been in orbit to blog on the Internet from space.

Russian travelers in the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th centuries. Names of discoverers, sailors and their discoveries.

Russian travelers in the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th centuries. The names of the discoverers and their discoveries.

Russian navigators, along with European ones, are the most famous pioneers who discovered new continents, sections of mountain ranges and vast water areas.

They became the discoverers of significant geographical objects, took the first steps in the development of hard-to-reach territories, and traveled around the world. So who are they - the conquerors of the seas, and what exactly did the world learn about thanks to them?

Afanasy Nikitin - the very first Russian traveler

Afanasy Nikitin is rightfully considered the first Russian traveler who managed to visit India and Persia (1468-1474, according to other sources 1466-1472). On the way back he visited Somalia, Turkey, Muscat. On the basis of his travels, Athanasius compiled the notes "Journey Beyond the Three Seas", which became popular and unique historical and literary aids. These records became the first book in the history of Russia, made not in the format of a story about a pilgrimage, but describing the political, economic and cultural features of the territories.

Afanasy Nikitin

He was able to prove that even as a member of a poor peasant family, one can become a famous explorer and traveler. Streets, embankments in several Russian cities, a motor ship, a passenger train and an aircraft are named after him.

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Semyon Dezhnev, who founded the Anadyr prison

Cossack chieftain Semyon Dezhnev was an Arctic navigator who became the discoverer of a number of geographical objects. Wherever Semyon Ivanovich served, everywhere he sought to study the new and previously unknown. He was even able to cross the East Siberian Sea on a makeshift koch, going from Indigirka to Alazeya.

In 1643, as part of a detachment of explorers, Semyon Ivanovich discovered Kolyma, where he founded the city of Srednekolymsk with his associates. A year later, Semyon Dezhnev continued his expedition, walked along the Bering Strait (which did not yet have this name) and discovered the easternmost point of the mainland, later named Cape Dezhnev. An island, a peninsula, a bay, a village also bear his name.

Semyon Dezhnev

In 1648, Dezhnev set off again. His ship was wrecked in the waters located in the southern part of the Anadyr River. Having reached on skis, the sailors went up the river and stayed there for the winter. Subsequently, this place appeared on geographical maps and was called the Anadyr prison. As a result of the expedition, the traveler was able to make detailed descriptions, draw up a map of those places.

Vitus Jonassen Bering, who organized expeditions to Kamchatka

Two Kamchatka expeditions inscribed the names of Vitus Bering and his associate Alexei Chirikov in the history of marine discoveries. During the first trip, the navigators conducted research and were able to supplement the geographical atlas with objects located in Northeast Asia and on the Pacific coast of Kamchatka.

The discovery of the Kamchatka and Ozerny peninsulas, the bays of Kamchatsky, the Cross, the Karaginsky, the Bay of Conduct, the island of St. Lawrence are also the merit of Bering and Chirikov. At the same time, another strait was found and described, which later became known as the Bering Strait.

Vitus Bering

The second expedition was undertaken by them in order to find a way to North America and explore the Pacific Islands. On this journey, Bering and Chirikov founded the Peter and Paul prison. It got its name from the combined names of their ships ("Saint Peter" and "Saint Paul") and subsequently became the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

On the approach to the shores of America, the ships of like-minded people lost sight of each other, heavy fog affected. "Saint Peter", driven by Bering, sailed to the west coast of America, but got into a severe storm on the way back - the ship was thrown onto an island. The last minutes of Vitus Bering's life passed on it, and the island subsequently began to bear his name. Chirikov also reached America on his ship, but successfully completed his voyage, finding several islands of the Aleutian ridge on the way back.

Khariton and Dmitry Laptev and their “named” sea

Cousins ​​Khariton and Dmitry Laptev were like-minded and assistants to Vitus Bering. It was he who appointed Dmitry the commander of the Irkutsk ship, and Khariton led his double boat Yakutsk. They took part in the Great Northern Expedition, the purpose of which was to study and accurately describe and map the Russian shores of the ocean, from Yugorsky Shar to Kamchatka.

Each of the brothers made a significant contribution to the development of new territories. Dmitry became the first navigator to survey the coast from the mouth of the Lena to the mouth of the Kolyma. He made detailed maps of these places, based on mathematical calculations and astronomical data.

Khariton and Dmitry Laptev

Khariton Laptev and his associates conducted research on the northernmost section of the coast of Siberia. It was he who determined the size and shape of the huge Taimyr Peninsula - he surveyed its eastern coast, and was able to identify the exact coordinates of the coastal islands. The expedition took place in difficult conditions - a large amount of ice, snowstorms, scurvy, ice captivity - the team of Khariton Laptev had to endure a lot. But they continued the work they had begun. On this expedition, Laptev's assistant Chelyuskin discovered the cape, which was later named after him.

Noting the great contribution of the Laptevs to the development of new territories, members of the Russian Geographical Society decided to name one of the largest seas in the Arctic after them. Also, the strait between the mainland and Bolshoi Lyakhovsky Island is named after Dmitry, and the western coast of Taimyr Island bears the name of Khariton.

Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky - the organizers of the first Russian circumnavigation of the world

Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky are the first Russian navigators to circumnavigate the world. Their expedition lasted three years (started in 1803 and ended in 1806). They set off with their teams on two ships, which bore the names "Nadezhda" and "Neva". Travelers passed through the Atlantic Ocean, entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean. On them, sailors sailed to the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Sakhalin.

Ivan KruzenshternThis journey allowed us to collect important information. Based on the data obtained by the navigators, a detailed map of the Pacific Ocean was compiled. Another important result of the first Russian round-the-world expedition was the data obtained on the flora and fauna of the Kuriles and Kamchatka, local residents, their customs and cultural traditions.

During their journey, the sailors crossed the equator and, according to maritime traditions, could not leave this event without a well-known ritual - a sailor dressed as Neptune greeted Kruzenshtern and asked why his ship arrived where the Russian flag had never been. To which he received the answer that they are here solely for the glory and development of domestic science.

Vasily Golovnin - the first navigator who was rescued from Japanese captivity

Russian navigator Vasily Golovnin led two round-the-world expeditions. In 1806, being in the rank of lieutenant, he received a new appointment and became the commander of the sloop "Diana". Interestingly, this is the only case in the history of the Russian fleet when a lieutenant was entrusted with the management of a ship.

The leadership set the goal of the round-the-world expedition to study the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, with special attention to that part of it that is within the native country. The path of "Diana" was not easy. The sloop passed the island of Tristan da Cunha, passed the Cape of Hope and entered the port, which belonged to the British. Here the ship was detained by the authorities. The British informed Golovnin about the outbreak of war between the two countries. The Russian ship was not declared captured, but the crew was not allowed to leave the bay either. After spending more than a year in this position, in mid-May 1809, the Diana, led by Golovnin, tried to escape, which the sailors succeeded in successfully - the ship arrived in Kamchatka.

Vasily Golovin The next important task Golovnin received in 1811 - he had to draw up descriptions of the Shantar and Kuril Islands, the shores of the Tatar Strait. During his journey, he was accused of not adhering to the principles of sakoku and was captured by the Japanese for more than 2 years. It was possible to rescue the crew from captivity only thanks to the good relations of one of the Russian naval officers and an influential Japanese merchant, who was able to convince his government of the harmless intentions of the Russians. It is worth noting that no one in history has ever returned from Japanese captivity before.

In 1817-1819, Vasily Mikhailovich made another round-the-world trip on the Kamchatka ship specially built for this.

Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev - discoverers of Antarctica

Captain of the second rank Thaddeus Bellingshausen was determined to find the truth about the existence of the sixth continent. In 1819, he went to the open sea, carefully preparing two sloops - Mirny and Vostok. The latter was commanded by his associate Mikhail Lazarev. The first round-the-world Antarctic expedition set itself other tasks. In addition to finding irrefutable facts confirming or refuting the existence of Antarctica, the travelers were going to explore the waters of three oceans - the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.

Thaddeus Bellingshausen The results of this expedition exceeded all expectations. During the 751 days that it lasted, Bellingshausen and Lazarev were able to make several significant geographical discoveries. Of course, the most important of them is the existence of Antarctica, this historical event took place on January 28, 1820. Also during the trip, about two dozen islands were found and mapped, sketches were created with views of Antarctica, images of representatives of the Antarctic fauna.

Mikhail Lazarev

Interestingly, attempts to discover Antarctica were made more than once, but none of them were successful. European navigators believed that either it did not exist, or it was located in places that simply could not be reached by sea. But the Russian travelers had enough perseverance and determination, so the names of Bellingshausen and Lazarev are included in the lists of the world's greatest navigators.

Yakov Sannikov

Yakov Sannikov (circa 1780, Ust-Yansk, Russian Empire - after 1811) - Russian merchant from Yakutsk, miner of arctic fox, mammoth tusks and explorer of the New Siberian Islands.
Known as the discoverer of the ghost island "Sannikov Land", which he saw from the New Siberian Islands. He discovered and described the islands of Stolbovoy (1800) and Faddeevsky (1805).
In 1808-1810, he participated in the expedition of the exiled Riga Swede M. M. Gedenstrom. In 1810 he crossed the island of New Siberia, in 1811 he bypassed the island of Faddeevsky.
Sannikov expressed an opinion about the existence to the north of the New Siberian Islands, in particular from Kotelny Island, of a vast land called "Sannikov Land".

After 1811, traces of Yakov Sannikov are lost. Neither further occupation nor the year of death are known. In 1935, pilot Gratsiansky, who was flying in the lower reaches of the Lena River, near Kyusyur discovered a tombstone with the inscription "Yakov Sannikov". The strait is named after him, along which a section of the Northern Sea Route passes today. It was opened in 1773 by the Yakut industrialist Ivan Lyakhov. Initially, the strait was named after the expedition doctor E.V. Tolya V.N. Katina-Yartseva F.A. Mathisen. The current name is given to K.A. Vollosovich on his map, and in 1935 approved by the government of the USSR.

Grigory Shelikhov

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov (Shelekhov; 1747, Rylsk - July 20, 1795, Irkutsk) - Russian explorer, navigator, industrialist and merchant from the Shelekhov family, from 1775 engaged in the arrangement of commercial merchant shipping between the Kuril and Aleutian island ridges. In 1783-1786 he led an expedition to Russian America, during which the first Russian settlements in North America were founded. He organized several trading and fishing companies, including those in Kamchatka. Grigory Ivanovich explored new lands for the Russian Empire, was the initiator of the Russian-American Company. Founder of the North East Company.

The bay was named after him. Shelikhov Bay (Kamchatka region, Russia) is located between the Asian coast and the base of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Refers to the water area of ​​the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

Ferdinand Wrangel

Wrangel showed himself from the best side, and he, tested in a difficult circumnavigation, is assigned to lead an expedition to the extreme north-east of Siberia, to the mouths of the Yana and Kolyma, in order to map the coast of the Arctic Ocean up to the Bering Strait, and in addition to test the hypothesis about the existence of an undiscovered land connecting Asia with America.
Wrangel spends three years in ice and tundra with his companions, among whom his main assistant was Fedor Matyushkin, a lyceum comrade A.S. Pushkin.
In between campaigns to the North, under the leadership of Wrangel and Matyushkin, a topographic survey of the vast coast was made, covering 35 degrees in longitude. On the territory of the recently white spot, 115 astronomical points were identified. For the first time, studies of the influence of climate on the existence and development of sea ice were carried out, and the first meteorological station in this region was organized in Nizhnekolymsk. Thanks to the meteorological observations of this station, it was established that in the interfluve of the Yana and Kolyma there is a "pole of cold" of the Northern Hemisphere.
Ferdinand Wrangel described the expedition and its scientific results in detail in a book that was first published in 1839 and was a huge success. The famous Swedish polar explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld called it "one of the masterpieces among the writings on the Arctic".

The expedition in the Chukotka-Kolyma Territory put Wrangel on a par with the largest explorers of the harsh Arctic. Subsequently, becoming one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society, he thought over the project of an expedition to the North Pole. He proposes to go to the Pole on a ship, which should be wintering off the northern coast of Greenland, to prepare food warehouses along the route of the polar party in the fall, and in March people go exactly in the direction of the meridian on ten sleds with dogs. Interestingly, the plan to reach the pole, drawn up by Robert Peary, who entered the pole 64 years later, repeated the old Wrangel project in the smallest detail. An island in the Arctic Ocean, a mountain and a cape in Alaska are named after Wrangel. Having learned about the sale of Alaska by the Russian government in 1867, Ferdinand Petrovich reacted very negatively to this.

The great Russian travelers, whose list is quite long, pushed the development of maritime trade, and also raised the prestige of their country. The scientific community learned more and more information not only about geography, but also about the animal and plant world, and most importantly, about people who lived in other parts of the world and their customs. Let us follow in the footsteps of the great Russian travelers their geographical discoveries.

Fyodor Filippovich Konyukhov

The great Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov is not only a famous adventurer, but also an artist, an honored master of sports. He was born in 1951. From childhood, he could do something that would have been rather difficult for his peers - swimming in cold water. He could easily sleep in the hayloft. Fedor was in good physical shape and could run long distances - several tens of kilometers. At the age of 15, he managed to swim across the Sea of ​​Azov using a row fishing boat. Fedor was significantly influenced by his grandfather, who wanted the young man to become a traveler, but the boy himself aspired to this. Great Russian travelers often began to prepare in advance for their campaigns and sea voyages.

Konyukhov's discoveries

Fedor Filippovich Konyukhov participated in 40 trips, repeated Bering's route on a yacht, and also sailed from Vladivostok to the Commander Islands, visited Sakhalin and Kamchatka. At the age of 58, he conquered Everest, as well as the 7 highest peaks in a team with other climbers. He visited both the North and South Poles, on his account 4 round-the-world voyages, he crossed the Atlantic 15 times. Fyodor Filippovich displayed his impressions with the help of drawing. Thus he painted 3,000 paintings. The great geographical discoveries of Russian travelers were often reflected in their own literature, and Fedor Konyukhov left behind 9 books.

Afanasy Nikitin

The great Russian traveler Athanasius Nikitin (Nikitin is the patronymic of a merchant, since his father's name was Nikita) lived in the 15th century, and the year of his birth is unknown. He proved that even a person from a poor family can travel so far, the main thing is to set a goal. He was an experienced merchant who, before India, visited the Crimea, Constantinople, Lithuania and the Moldavian principality and brought overseas goods to his homeland.

He himself was from Tver. Russian merchants traveled to Asia to establish ties with local merchants. They themselves carried there, mostly furs. By the will of fate, Athanasius ended up in India, where he lived for three years. Upon returning to his homeland, he was robbed and killed near Smolensk. The great Russian travelers and their discoveries remain forever in history, because for the sake of progress, brave and courageous wanderers often died on dangerous and long expeditions.

Discoveries of Athanasius Nikitin

Afanasy Nikitin became the first Russian traveler to visit India and Persia, on the way back he visited Turkey and Somalia. During her wanderings, she took notes "Journey Beyond the Three Seas", which later became a guide for studying the culture and customs of other countries. In particular, medieval India is well described in his notes. He crossed the Volga, the Arabian and Caspian Seas, the Black Sea. When the merchants near Astrakhan were robbed by the Tatars, he did not want to return home with everyone and fall into a debt hole, but continued his journey, heading to Derbent, then to Baku.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay

Miklouho-Maclay comes from a noble family, but after the death of his father, he had to learn what it means to live in poverty. He had the nature of a rebel - at the age of 15 he was arrested for participating in a student demonstration. Because of this, he not only ended up under arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he stayed for three days, but was also expelled from the gymnasium with a further ban on admission - so the opportunity to get a higher education in Russia was lost for him, which he later did only in Germany.

A well-known naturalist, drew attention to an inquisitive 19-year-old boy and invited Miklouho-Maclay on an expedition, the purpose of which was to study marine fauna. Nikolai Nikolaevich died at the age of 42, while his diagnosis was "severe deterioration of the body." He, like many other great Russian travelers, sacrificed a significant part of his life in the name of new discoveries.

Discoveries of Miklouho-Maclay

In 1869, Miklukho-Maclay, with the support of the Russian Geographical Society, left for New Guinea. The shore where he landed is now called Maclay Coast. After spending more than a year on the expedition, he discovered new lands. The natives learned from a Russian traveler how pumpkin, corn, and beans are grown, and how to take care of fruit trees. He spent 3 years in Australia, visited Indonesia, the Philippines, the islands of Melanesia and Micronesia. He also convinced local residents not to interfere with anthropological research. For 17 years of his life, he studied the indigenous population of the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia. Thanks to Miklukho-Maclay, the assumption that the Papuans are a different kind of person was refuted. As you can see, the great Russian travelers and their discoveries allowed the rest of the world not only to learn more about geographical research, but also about other people who lived in new territories.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky

Przhevalsky was favored by the emperor's family, at the end of the first trip he had the honor to meet Alexander II, who transferred his collections to the Russian Academy of Sciences. His son Nikolai really liked the works of Nikolai Mikhailovich, and he wanted to be his student, he also contributed to the publication of stories about the 4th expedition, granting 25 thousand rubles. The Tsarevich always looked forward to letters from the traveler and was glad even for a short news about the expedition.

As you can see, even during his lifetime, Przhevalsky became a fairly well-known person, and his works and deeds received great publicity. However, as sometimes happens when great Russian travelers and their discoveries become famous, many details from his life, as well as the circumstances of his death, are still shrouded in mystery. Nikolai Mikhailovich had no descendants, because having understood in advance what fate awaited him, he would not allow himself to condemn his beloved to constant expectations and loneliness.

Discoveries of Przewalski

Thanks to Przhevalsky's expeditions, Russian scientific prestige received a new impetus. During 4 expeditions, the traveler traveled about 30 thousand kilometers, he visited Central and Western Asia, the territory of the Tibetan Plateau and the southern part of the Takla Makan desert. He discovered many ridges (Moscow, Zagadochny, etc.), described the largest rivers in Asia.

Many have heard about (subspecies but few people know about the richest zoological collection of mammals, birds, amphibians and fish, a large number of records about plants and a herbarium collection. In addition to the animal and plant world, as well as new geographical discoveries, the great Russian traveler Przhevalsky was interested in the unknown for Europeans by peoples - Dungans, northern Tibetans, Tanguts, Magins, Lobnors. He created the work "How to Travel in Central Asia", which could serve as an excellent guide for researchers and the military. Great Russian travelers, making discoveries, always gave knowledge for the development of science and successful organization of new expeditions.

Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern

The Russian navigator was born in 1770. He happened to become the head of the first round-the-world expedition from Russia, he is also one of the founders of Russian oceanology, an admiral, a corresponding member and an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The great Russian traveler Krusenstern also took an active part when the Russian Geographical Society was created. In 1811 he happened to teach at the Naval Cadet Corps. Subsequently, after becoming director, he organized the highest officer class. This academy then became a naval academy.

In 1812, he allocated 1/3 of his fortune for the people's militia (the Patriotic War began). Until that time, three volumes of the books "Traveling around the world" were published, which were translated into seven European languages. In 1813, Ivan Fedorovich was included in the English, Danish, German and French scientific communities and academies. However, after 2 years, he goes on an indefinite leave due to a developing eye disease, which complicated the situation and a difficult relationship with the Minister of the Navy. Many famous sailors and travelers turned to Ivan Fedorovich for advice and support.

Krusenstern's discoveries

For 3 years he was the head of the Russian expedition around the world on the ships "Neva" and "Nadezhda". During the voyage, the mouths of the Amur River were to be explored. For the first time in history, the Russian fleet crossed the equator. Thanks to this journey and Ivan Fedorovich, the eastern, northern and northwestern shores of the Sakhalin Island appeared for the first time on the map. Also due to his work, the Atlas of the South Sea was published, supplemented by hydrographic notes. Thanks to the expedition, non-existent islands were erased from the maps, the exact position of other geographic points was determined. Russian science learned about the trade wind countercurrents in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, water temperatures were measured (depths up to 400 m), its specific gravity, color and transparency were determined. Finally, the reason why the sea shone became clear. Also, data appeared on atmospheric pressure, ebb and flow in many areas of the World Ocean, which were used by other great Russian travelers in their expeditions.

Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev

The great traveler was born in 1605. A sailor, explorer and merchant, he was also a Cossack chieftain. He was originally from Veliky Ustyug, and then moved to Siberia. Semyon Ivanovich was known for his diplomatic talent, courage and ability to organize and lead people. Geographical points (cape, bay, island, village, peninsula), premium, icebreaker, passage, streets, etc. bear his name.

Dezhnev's discoveries

Semyon Ivanovich 80 years before Bering passed the strait (called the Bering Strait) between Alaska and Chukotka (completely, while Bering passed only part of it). He and his team opened a sea route around the northeastern part of Asia, reached Kamchatka. Nobody had known before that about the part of the world where America almost converged with Asia. Dezhnev passed the Arctic Ocean, bypassing the northern coast of Asia. He mapped the strait between the American and Asian coasts, and after the ship was shipwrecked, his detachment, having only skis and sledges, traveled 10 weeks before (while losing 13 people out of 25). There is an assumption that the first settlers in Alaska were part of the Dezhnev team, which separated from the expedition.

Thus, following in the footsteps of the great Russian travelers, one can see how the scientific community of Russia developed and rose, knowledge about the outside world was enriched, which gave a huge impetus to the development of other industries.