In the history of Russian icons, one image is pre-eminent as the most copied, most decorated and most adored: "Our Lady of Kazan."
The image, so legend goes, was discovered by a 10-year-old girl named Matryona in the ruins of a house in the western Russian city of Kazan on July 8, 1579. The girl claimed to have been shown the image in a dream, and its mysterious origins and reputed miracle-working powers soon won it a place as the principal treasure of the city of Kazan.
The icon was carried into battle by Prince Pozharsky in 1612, when Russian forces repelled a strong Polish attack. Had the invasion been successful, Russia's Orthodox Christians might have been forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism. Instead, the icon was credited with miraculously turning the tide of battle.