An article by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on the pilgrimage of Archbishop Sophonia (Sokolsky) of Turkestan to Mount Athos has been published in the journal of the St Petersburg Theological Academy, Russian-Byzantine Herald

On 31 December 2025, the scholarly journal of the St Petersburg Theological Academy, Russian-Byzantine Herald, published an article by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan devoted to the pilgrimage of Archbishop Sophonia (Sokolsky) of Turkestan to the Holy Mountain of Athos in 1849.

Title of the publication: “Having seen the archimandrite of our mission, all rose and greeted him in a friendly manner…” – the pilgrimage to Athos of Archimandrite Sophonia (Sokolsky) in 1849 (an attempt at historical reconstruction).

The study reconstructs the circumstances of the journey and determines its influence on the character of the future Apostle of the Great Steppe. The work is based on previously unpublished archival sources, which made it possible to уточнить the dating, route, and names of the participants in the pilgrimage.

The journal Russian-Byzantine Herald is included in the list of periodicals recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the publication of articles reflecting the results of dissertation research submitted for the academic degrees of Candidate and Doctor of Sciences.

The article by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan is available at the following link: https://scientific-journals-spbda.ru/f/rvv-322-2025_sajt.pdf (p. 112).

Full bibliographic reference for citation:

Alexander (Mogilev), Metropolitan. “Having seen the archimandrite of our mission, all rose and greeted him in a friendly manner…” – the pilgrimage to Athos of Archimandrite Sophonia (Sokolsky) in 1849 (an attempt at historical reconstruction). Russian-Byzantine Herald. 2025. No. 3 (22). Pp. 112–127.