Abstract: The subject of the study is the daily routine of the Pskov border region in the description of foreign travelers who visited the Russian state at the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great. The testimonies of travelers, diplomats and the military allow to trace the first changes related to the road infrastructure, the attitude towards foreigners and the way of life of the local population observed in the last quarter of the XVII century. The impression that the Pskov road made on travelers often left its indelible imprint on the entire perception of the Russian state by foreigners, and through numerous letters, diaries and reports, the image of Russia in Europe was laid on the eve of large-scale Peter's reforms. Up until the beginning of the Great Northern War, the foundation of St. Petersburg and the expansion of the borders of the Russian state, the roads of the Pskov border played an extremely important role in maintaining contacts with European countries, which led to increased attention to them both from the tsarist administration and foreign travelers. The quality of roads and related infrastructure in the border region continued to improve during the period under review. Travelers compared the sections of their route to the roads after crossing the border. Many foreign travelers noted the best quality of the road in the possessions of the Russian tsar in comparison with Polish and even Swedish possessions.

Abstract: This article presents an overview of the data on the history of Pskov and Pskovian land, collected on the basis of English and French diplomatic testimonies of the XVI – early XVII centuries. The author analyzes the routes of ambassadorial missions, diplomatic ceremony, geographical records and descriptions of the city of Pskov, data on military events and trade provided by the foreign diplomats who visited the Tsardom of Russia. For the first tie is examined the attendance of Pskov by Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle in July 1664. The source foundation contains the official documents, reports, and diaries of the participants of French and English diplomatic missions to the Russian State. The applied historical-genetic method allows tracing the evolution of representations of the English and French diplomats about the Pskovian land as a part of the Tsardom of Russia throughout the XVI – XVII centuries. Located on the border of Muscovy, Pskov and Pskovian land often attracted attention of the foreign diplomats due to its economic and military potential.