Abstract. Based on the reports (stateinye spiski) of domestic embassies, the paper analyses the state idea in the 16th–17th centuries about the extent to which Orthodoxy was spread south of Russian lands. As a result of the study, it is concluded that the authorities assessed the degree of adherence to the Orthodox faith in other lands based on the idea that the canonical model is the Moscow Patriarchate, and in connection with this attitude, in their opinion, the conditional border ran between the Orthodox and heterodox worlds along

Georgian principalities.

Keywords: Russian medieval embassies, ambassador’s reports (stateinye spiski), Orthodoxy, Caucasus, Georgian principalities