Traveller's accounts
A visit to the Princes’ Islands was a must for Westerners undertaking a voyage to the East. Many of them, drawn by scenery, local customs or books, stopped at Holy Trinity monastery on the island of Chalki, and their accounts enable the history of the monastery and of its library to be documented.
The original texts are presented here (together with, when required, their translation into French) of all the accounts of voyages from the mid- 16th century onwards which mention the Princes’ Islands. Although specific mention of the library of Holy Trinity monastery is rare, this extremely rich documentation simultaneously permits situating the library in context and an understanding of the varying outlook of foreigners towards these islands and their inhabitants.
