Introduction. Currently, in Russian philological science there is an increased interest in little-known or forgotten sections and texts of Russian literature, in “non-professional” literature, as well as in borderline genre phenomena. One of these sections is pilgrimage literature - stories about travelers’ visits to significant Orthodox centers (monasteries). This literature has come a long way from medieval walking to historical and everyday autobiographical essays and makes up the majority of spiritual literature with an educational and edifying orientation. The purpose of the work is to analyze the autobiographical essay by N. Aksakova “The Hermit of the 1st quarter of the 19th century and the pilgrims of his time” from the point of view of genre, features of autobiography and narration on behalf of the child hero. Materials and methods. The theoretical basis of the article was the research of modern Russian literary scholars engaged in the study of the discourse, structure and poetics of travelogue, pilgrimage literature of the 19th-20th centuries of different regions of Russia (O. N. Alexandrova-Osokina, N. V. Konstantinov, N. V. Korzhikova, E. G. Milyugina, et al.), local text of Russian literature. The main research methods are cultural-historical, comparative-analytical, textual. Research results, discussion. In the process of analyzing N. Aksakova’s essay, the genre specificity of the text is revealed ‒ elements of a pilgrimage essay, an autobiographical story and “eyewitness accounts” about lifetime meetings with Seraphim of Sarov. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the image of the saint from the point of view of the relationship of his artistic solution with the hagiographic canon and church literature about lifetime encounters with him. The study allows us to demonstrate the author’s ability to switch the narrative perspective, alternating a child’s view of events and the author’s analytical position. Conclusion. The work carried out made it possible to see the atypical character of Seraphim of Sarov in the story. The author departs from the hagiographic etiquette image of the saint and creates a realistic, contrasting artistic image, showing the hero in different settings and in different qualities: Seraphim is shown as a frightened old man, a hospitable monk, a sad seer. The genre of the pilgrimage essay is only an external form of organization of the text; the autobiographical beginning allows the author to show the story through the eyes and feelings of a child.