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Russian archives constitute an untapped reservoir of materials concerning nineteenth-century Thessaloniki. Russian interests in the port and region ranged over a variety of topics, including safeguarding Black Sea commerce and protecting Orthodox Christians, dealing with the vagaries of Ottoman politics, and maintaining reliable pilgrimage routes to Mount Athos and the Holy Land. During the middle decades of the century the Russian state forwarded its policy through its vice-consul, Angelo Mustoxidi, whose remarkable career sheds light on Russian policy, and typifies the experience of Greeks in Russian service who worked to implement tsarist prerogatives while representing the claims of their co-ethnics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]