In the year 105 since its founding, GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia presents its new editorial and publishing project: the illustrated album Traditions of Moscow Hospitality. This one-of-a-kind publication invites its readers to dive into the origins of the foundational Russian values: welcoming foreign guests in respectful and heartfelt ways.

As the front gates of our country, Moscow has always received visitors with special reverence. The new album's challenging task was to analyze that experience and to present it on its pages.

Russian history is full of eyewitness accounts telling about the special regard reserved for those arriving in our country. It is not by chance that the Instruction (Pouchenie) of Vladimir Monomakh (early 12th century) says, “Pay respect to a guest above all else by giving honor.” This succinct advice is not only reflective of the tradition to greet foreigners warmly as a key means to advance foreign policy; it also emphasizes typical Russian national traits such as geniality and openness.

In time, however, spoken hospitality principles stopped being enough, so, as the Old Russian statehood developed, the accumulated experience in that area demanded systematization.

Expanding contacts with the West and the East during Ivan IV's reign led to the creation of a dedicated institution, the Ambassadorial Prikaz. Aside from foreign policy, “sovereign’s people” designed diplomatic ceremonies, accommodated, and serviced the arriving foreigners so that “they do not feel any need whatsoever.”

Later, the tasks related to the comprehensive servicing of foreign diplomats and maintaining their comfort were entrusted to the Central Bureau for the Service to Foreigners in Moscow established on August 24, 1921, and later, to GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia.

The transfer of the “science of hospitality” is what occupies the pages of the new illustrated album. The ambitious and authentic factual retelling was ensured by professional historians: Natalya Kargapolova, senior researcher at the State Historical Museum, Science and Exposition Department, I. Zabelin Award winner, and journalist Vladimir Khutarev-Garnishevsky, associate professor at the Moscow State Institute of Culture, History and Philosophy Department, PhD in History. The book's splendid illustrations have been augmented by rare and precious images provided by the State Historical Museum and the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation.

The album is available on the GlavUpDK Cultural Heritage Sites webpage.