Representatives of Ancient Greek geographical science generated two main types of texts, which may be characterized as, correspondingly, theoretical and descriptive ones. The greatest author former type of texts was the famous scientist Eratosthenes. But works of such a kind contain almost no historical data, and so they are seldom used by antiquity researchers as a source. The author in the framework of this article is interested first of all in monuments, which belong to two genres inseparable from each other: periegesis and periplus. In periegeseis, more attention is paid to events of the past, as they, while describing cities and places, very often deal with monuments of the history and culture; as to periploi, they show much less interest in the past, as they were written mostly for sailors. In modern literature, periegeseis are often labeled as “ancient guides” and periploi – “ancient pilots”. The most important representative of Greek periegesis was Pausanias. But his work has been studied in detail, and so the article deals mainly with much less known authors (chronologically related to the eras from Hellenistic to Late Roman), such as Heraclides Criticus, Pseudo-Scymnus, Dionysius of Byzantium, Hesychius Illustrius.

The visionary “diaries” of the Benedictine nun Elisabeth of Schönau (1129–1164) illustrate how the rhythms of the monastic life based on the yearly, weekly and daily cycles of the divine office were interiorized by the medieval monks and nuns and also shaped the thematic outline of their visions. The research works by Peter Dinzelbacher, Jeffrey Hamburger, Barbara Newman, Ann J. Cark, Mikhail Reutin and other medievalists show that in 12^th–14^th c. the prayerful and ascetic practices cultivated in the monasteries and especially in the convents were aimed at inducing mystical and visionary experiences. It is less known that devilish obsessions also had their chronological and liturgical associating. This article is concerned with the very beginning of the “First Book of Visions”, where Elizabeth described how the apparitions of the demons were “arranged”; how their calendar was built; how they were related to the liturgy and watch services and how through them Elizabeth (and / or her brother Ekbert, who recorded and edited her revelations) constructed her biography of a visionary and a prophetess.

The article deals with the concept of private/public in the late Middle Ages’ culture. This opposition is considered by the works of Jean Gerson (1363–1429), an outstanding French theologian, chancellor of the University of Paris and Royal advisor. The author traces the development of that concept in Gerson’s works, his sometimes inconsistent and even paradoxical conclusions in relation to the intimate sphere of human existence (marriage, sexual relations between husband and wife), as well as in relation to more general issue of religious experiences of an individual (female mysticism, the nature of revelation, the discretio spirituum). The article deals also with Jean Gerson’s attitude to reading and books in general, as well as to the images, the study of which was condemned by the theologian. The author comes to the conclusion about the instability of the concepts of “private” and “public” in Western Europe at the turn of the 14^th–15^th centuries, as evidenced not only by the work of Jean Gerson, but also by texts of other genres.

The religious culture of the English Catholic community was transformed in the 16^th–17^th cc. and a local Catholic culture emerged, in many ways different from the model prescribed by the Tridentine norms. One reason for that divergence was the loss of traditional sacred loci – churches, monasteries, shrines etc. during the years of the Reformation. In the post-Reformation period, English Catholics were to re-interpret the sacred geography of the country, and of its capital. The article looks into one aspect of this process – the emergence of new pilgrimage sites. A new sacral locus (which sacred status for long time was been a subject of conflict) appeared in London. That was Tyburn – the dishonorable place where traitors had been executed since the 12^th c., and a site, which Catholics begun to see in late 16^th early 17^th cc. as a place of martyrdom, and, consequently, a pilgrimage destination. The author discusses pilgrimage the forms of pilgrimages that existed in conditions of a complete ban on the practice itself (since 1559), their political and religious contexts, as well as particular ways to describe pilgrimages to Tyburn. It is concluded that a small number oof references to such pilgrimages can be explained both by the character of the religious culture of the English Catholics as a minority culture, which used public gestures sparingly, and by conscious efforts at editing of the texts produced by Catholic missionaries. The latter could not control the laity’s devotional practices, but could instead define the image of England’s Catholic culture and its practices that was seen by contemporaries and descendants.

The article discusses one of the most important directions in the cultural policy of the rule of the Elizabethan rule – the relationship between the government and the church. The justification of the legality of being on the throne for Elizabeth was “consanguinity” with Peter the Great and a return to traditional national values. The Church, in the person of its preachers, became the Empress’s chief assistant in the implementation of the ideological program. Talented preachers convinced Orthodox citizens of the importance and expediency of government measures, threw harsh accusations against the former “German” authorities, praised the Empress and her “glorious” parents, and exaggerated the merits of Peter the Great daughter in state reforms. The Empress, in turn, took care of the Christian morality of subjects, the spread of Orthodoxy, the veneration of shrines, the construction and improvement of church institutions, made numerous donations to the church, granted rights and privileges, and monitored the formation of the clergy. However, the interests of the state notably were always the basis for the cultural policy of the government, and in matters relating to the church, it proceeded primarily from the tasks of the state, never forgot about the strict implementation of its orders and cost savings.

The paper discusses some current trends in the process of (re) constructing of church space in Russia in the 2010s. Three stages can be traced in this field in the post-Soviet period. In the 1990s, the interior of churches returned to the Russian Orthodox Church was restored as a liturgical space – icons (often different in size and stile, brought by parishioners) could be placed on windows, chairs or used to form temporary iconostases. With the accumulation of church funds and the development of the church infrastructure, the ecclesiastical space began to be developed and become unified in form through pre-thinking everything and placing orders for new iconostases, wall paintings, icons and icon-cases. At last at the third stage (in many regions it may be clearly traced as from the end of 2010s) the interior of churches started to be filled with particles of relics, reliquaries, brandea, constructing a local ‘hierotopy’, the space of shrines. The paper is focused on the church of Boris and Gleb in Borovsk (Kaluga region). Besides its interior, the author analyses an iconography of the hagiographical icon of Marina of Antioch that was painted for this church.

The article analyzes two works of art. Its iconographic compositions are the original versions of the interpretation versions for the idea of God’s chosenness of the royal Romanov dynasty. This is an engraving from the book “Spiritual Sword” by Lazar Baranovich (1666) and a fresco of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl (1716 [?]). The basis of the compositional scheme in both works is the spiritual tree of tsarist genealogy, justifying the spiritual kinship of the Romanovs with the Rurikovich dynasty. To that end Vladimir, the Prince of Kiev and the baptizer of Rus’ is presented in the role of their common “ancestor”. This publication explores the historical circumstances contributing to the creation of those images, identifies elements of the similarity and differences in their iconography and establishes literary sources of plots. Both works contain the apology of the Romanov clan which is under the Dominion of God, that allows them to successfully rule the country in an era of challenges and changes. The apology is combined with eschatological overtones which can be seen as a form for expression of hope that the “righteous” kings of that dynasty would be able to overcome the crisis situations that arising at turning points in the history of the country every half a century.

The article explores the issue of constructing the image of late Victorian London in one of the classic Doctor Who stories, “The Talons of Weng-Chiang”, which tells of the confrontation between the Doctor and the mad scientist Magnus Greel posing as a Chinese deity in 1889’s London. The script of Robert Holmes provided this story with attention and love not only of the viewers of the 1970s, but also those of our time. However, today’s Western audience, paying tribute to the inventiveness of the author, is inclined to see manifestations of racism in the way Chinese characters – the inhabitants of Limehouse – are presented in the script. Casting also seems to be questionable, or rather, the choice of actor John Bennett for the role of Chinese stage magician Li H’sen Chang. The problematization of the “Chinese” theme in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” makes us turn to the specifics of perception of China and the Chinese in British literary texts of the 19^th century. Futhermore, the article analyzes other references to British literature of that time, including the character of Sherlock Holmes. It also considers the interpretation of topics relevant to Western culture of the 19^th century, such as progress, civilization and “savagery”. The subject of consideration is also the features of the visual representation of London.