Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This product is dedicated to one of the largest cathedrals in St. Petersburg, named after the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. In the center of the work is the miraculous face of the Virgin with Christ, at the foot of which there is a panorama of the cathedral, built to preserve the venerated image. The icon depicts the Mother of God frontally, with a slight tilt of the head towards the Infant. This treatment symbolizes love and maternal tenderness, and at the same time worship of Christ the Savior. In the arms of the Virgin sits a blessing Baby. And the views of the Mother of God and Christ are directed towards the worshipper, expressing the special fullness of communion between God and His creation, man. The great shrine was found in 1579 in Kazan after a fire that destroyed almost the entire Christian part of the city. The Most Holy Theotokos appeared in a dream to a nine-year-old girl, Matrona Onuchina, and She herself pointed out the place in the ashes where Her image was located. The icon, miraculously preserved in the flames of the fire, was moved to the nearest church of St. Nicholas, from where, after the prayer service, it was moved to the Annunciation Cathedral. During the procession, two blind people, Joseph and Nikita, were healed. Since that time, miracles began to happen at the icon. The icon of the Kazan Mother of God has repeatedly shown the way to victory for Orthodox soldiers. Before the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Russian Tsar Peter I and his army prayed before the holy image, after which the enemy was defeated. Later, by decree of Peter the Great, the list of the miraculous icon was moved to St. Petersburg with the blessing of Bishop Mitrofan, the spiritual mentor and friend of the tsar of Voronezh. Vladyka commanded us to call upon the Queen of Heaven to help us in the affairs of the state. He predicted that the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God would become the patroness and protector of St. Petersburg, and as long as the image was in the city, the enemy would not enter it. For almost a century, the Kazan icon did not have a permanent home, it was moved from one church to another, thereby sanctifying the whole of St. Petersburg. In 1737, under Empress Anna Ioannovna, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin was built on Nevsky Prospekt. The Empress personally transferred the miraculous image, decorated with a golden robe with precious stones, and placed it in the iconostasis to the left of the Royal Gates. In 1801, by decree of Emperor Paul I, the cathedral was founded in honor of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. The cathedral was built according to the project of Andrei Nikiforovich Voronikhin on the site of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. The construction lasted ten years, and was completed in 1811. Since then, the Kazan Cathedral has preserved its revered image, being one of the most beautiful architectural structures in St. Petersburg. The graceful appearance of the Kazan Cathedral with its colonnade facing the viewer appears in all its grandeur on the product of Vladimir Mikhailov. Above it, as in an altar, stands a miraculous icon surrounded by rich decorations. The reverse side of the product has a spiritual and symbolic character. Among the magnificent ornaments entwining the outline of the icon, an eight-pointed Orthodox cross is depicted, allegorically reflecting the Tree of Life amidst the blossoming of the Garden of Eden. The pedestal of the icon is made with elements of stone rustics and a patterned fence. The miraculous image is crowned by a makovka with a cross, giving the work the appearance of a temple.