Within the research on the travel literature of Russian intellectuals in Italy little attention has been paid to the role of Italians encountered by the Russian travellers in the formation of the genius loci (i.e. the Italian text of Russian culture): the contact with the other – in this case, European, Southern and classical – and his/her representation enable us to specify the attitude of the Russians towards a different culture, as well as being the best occasion to reconfigure the ideas related to their own national identity. The article examines the notes about journeys to Italy made in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth centuries, a period in which Russians showed the highest interest in Italian culture.