Abstract. The article examines the perception of the United States by Russian diplomats and priests of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States in 1867–1917. The authors analyse the views of Russian diplomats and clergymen on various aspects of the American reality in the political, social, economic, scientific, technical, cultural and spiritual spheres. The research is based on a wide source base of domestic archives. Conclusions are drawn about the dual nature of perception of the United States by Russian diplomats and clergymen. On the one hand, they admired the level of economic, scientific and technological development of the United States, as well as the religiosity of Americans, on the other hand, they were critical of democracy and secularity of the American civilisation.

Keywords: United States, Russian Orthodox Church, diocese of the Aleutians and Alaska, Russian-American relations, Alaska, Russian America