In the 13th century, the original version of this striking icon traveled from Constantinople to Kazan, a city three hundred miles east of Moscow where, as is common with icons, Kazan became it’s distinguishing name. In 1438, when the Tartars captured the city, the icon was lost for more than 100 years until the Russian Czar, Ivan the Terrible liberated the Kazan in 1552. Legend has it the icon was found in a garden by a girl named Metrona who had visions of its location.
When Moscow was invaded and occupied by the Polish army in 1612, the Patriarch of Russia brought the famous icon from Kazan to Moscow. The Polish army was defeated on October 22nd 1612, and the victory was immediately attributed to the Kazan Mother of God icon.
The Kazan Mother of God was also credited with the defeat of Napoleon’s army when two centuries later in 1812, Napoleon invaded Moscow and was defeated when, with no sign of clear victory in sight, he began his disastrous “Great Retreat” from Moscow.
The Kazan Mother of God icon is considered to be one of the two most important Mother of God icons in Russia, the other being the Vladimir Mother of God.