Old Russian Graffito Inscription in the Abbey of Saint-Gilles, South of France

A well-preserved Old Russian graffito inscription, discovered on a pier of the Abbey of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard near Arles, France, represents the most geographically remote Old Russian text found in western Europe. The Cyrillic prayer, 'Lord, help your servant Semko, son of Ninoslav,' dates to between 1180 and 1250 and was likely carved by a pilgrim en route from Russia to Santiago de Compostela. Palaeographic and linguistic analysis confirmed its Russian origin, providing rare linguistic evidence linking medieval Russian pilgrimage routes to significant European religious sites. The abbey church, constructed around 1170/1180, is one of the most important Romanesque pilgrimage churches in southern France, with the graffito located near the tomb of St. Giles in its crypt.

Brun, A.-S., Hartmann-Virnich, A., Ingrand-Varenne, E., & Mikheev, S. M. (2014). Old Russian Graffito Inscription in the Abbey of Saint-Gilles, South of France. Slovene, 3(2), 110–129. https://doi.org/10.31168/2305-6754.2014.3.2.2