The author analyzes the work of the French traveler Foy De La Neuville
«The notes about Muscovy» (1698). The text of Neuville’s book reflected the ideas of
Russia as a transit zone between the West and the East, common to the European countries
of those times. The conclusion that the author of the book had an interest in the problem of
usage of the territory of Siberia for the development of the European contacts with China is
made. The hypothesis that many of Neuville’s statements about Russia were connected
particularly to the tasks in the area of diplomacy and mission which were set by the secular
and clerical rulers of Europe in the last quarter of the XVIIth century is made.
Keywords
history; Russia; the Muscovy state; Europe; France; Asia; China; Siberia.
