Timeline of Maxim Vasilii's Journey: The Sailing Museum in Charleston, South Carolina

THE JOURNEY OF MAXIM VASILII: 1657 - 1665

Maxim Vasilii left home a young man fleeing tyranny and returned decades later as a celebrated pirate and explorer. Vasilii's journey has become legendary among seafaring circles chiefly due to the mythical "king's treasure" he supposedly discovered along the way. The whereabouts of the treasure are unknown, and little evidence of it exists. What cannot be denied is that Vasilii did undertake a long voyage after a successful career as a pirate. The timeline below spans his exploratory period, from approximately 1657 to late 1665. So little is known from the period between 1659 and 1661 that we cannot accurately plot the Thermopolae's course during that time.

Many of the items shown below are included in the Sailing Museum's exhibit on Maxim Vasilii. Click on the thumbnails below to view a larger version of each image.

1635
Map of the Black Sea (Univ. Waughshington Collection)

Maxim Vasilii was born in approximately 1635 in southern Russia, near the Black Sea. Vasilii eventually fled the region as a youth to escape the ethnic scourges of Czar Alexei.

1658-59
Chinese Hat (Univ. Waughshington Collection)

The Thermopolae made its way across the Indian Ocean before arriving in China sometime in late 1658 or early 1659. Vasilii and his men were known to have conducted trade throughout this stage of their journey for spices and silk.

1658-59
Chinese Tapestry (Univ. Waughshington Collection)

Few items remain from Vasilii's journey around the globe, but one of the best preserved is this silk tepestry, featuring a day in the life of seventeenth century China.

1659-1661
Thermopolae Embossed Silver Grate (Univ. Waughshington Collection)

Vasilii's ship, named after one of his great pirate victories, carried the captain and his men around the world. Despite bombardment from the British Royal Navy and countless storms, the Thermopolae survived and carried Vasilii all the way back to Odessa.

1661
Portrait of Vasilii, Unknown Artist (Univ. Waughshington Collection)

This portrait of Vasilii is thought to show the pirate captain during his brief stay in Hawaii. The Thermopolae arrived in the islands nearly two years after leaving China. Its whereabouts during from 1559 - 1661 are unknown.

1661-1662
Map of Vasilii's Journey Around Cape Horn (British Museum)

From 1661 to 1662 the Thermopolae made its way around South America on its way to the Caribbean. This map, drawn by a friend of Daniel Aldridge, was later proven to be inaccurate in that it omitted stops the ship made along the Atlantic coast, in present-day Uruguay and Brazil.

1662
Henry Morgan, Unknown Artist (British Museum)

Before he gained a more infamous reputation, Henry Morgan was an officer in the British Royal Navy. Morgan led pursuit of the Thermopolae out of the Bay of Santiago aboard his ship, the HMS Fremont.

1662-1663
HMS Fremont Engaging Thermopolae, Unknown Artist (British Museum)

This engraving depicts one of the encounters between Henry Morgan's HMS Fremont and Vasilii's Thermopolae. The Thermopolae escaped Morgan's ship twice thanks to severe weather before sailing across the Atlantic.

1665
Ancient Greek or Roman Coins (Univ. Waughshington Collection)

These coins returned with the Thermopolae to Odessa, and are believed to have been collected during the ship's stop on the island of Crete.

1696
Peter the Great (Hermitage Collection)

Czar Peter the Great took sole possession of the Russian throne in 1696 and proceeded to modernize the country. He was said to invite Maxim Vasilii to his court during the captain's later years, and his obsession with building a Russian navy and promoting exploration was directly inspired by Vasilii's travels.

Read more about Maxim Vasilii: His History