The book was a result of a big research and publishing project; the diaries were composed by an outstanding person, scholar, orientalist, specialist in Byzantine studies, archaeologist, archeographer, diplomat, and Orthodox priest. In general, his diaries cover a long period from the childhood of the author till his death in 1894. This volume contains that period which was connected with his service in Athens, where, in 1850, he became the chief priest of the Russian Embassy church — and it was a beginning of the longer period (44 years) at the Orthodox East. The publication of his diaries is commented as a historical source; there is also an introduction by L.A. Gerdt ‘Between Scylla and Charybdis: Greece on the Eve and in the Course of the Crimean War. Archimandrite Antonin in Athens in 1851—1855’; there is also an index of persons and geographic names. The chronological frames are not taken by an occasion: in 1851—1855, A. was shaped as a diplomat, and his talents as a researcher were manifested. The publication contains various data on the archaeology, history, and ethnography of the countries of the Orthodox East, as well as on foreign affairs of state and ecclesiastic institutions of Russia.