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In the Footsteps of M.S. Koutorga, the First Russian Explorer of Boiotia
The article is devoted to the work of the famous Russian researcher of Greece, Mikhail Semyonovich Koutorga (1809-1886), who made a scientific journey to Greece in 1860-1861 and in 1874 published some of the results in the volume work “Plataiai: an Excerpt from a Journey to Greece” in the “Russkiy Vestnik” journal. This work is little known in Russia and, probably, practically unknown abroad. It presents not only the results of juxtaposing the terrain with the course of the battle of Plataiai in 479 BC, but also a wealth of factual material on the topography of the Plataiai region, as well as on the etymology of a number of geographical names. This work indicates that regarding Boiotia, the Russian science of the 60s-70s of the 19th century took into account the latest research, and Koutorga himself outlined a number of areas for the further research of Plataiai.