The icon of the Sign saves Novgorod
When the Suzdalian army besieged Novgorod on 25 February 1170, the archbishop carried an icon of the Virgin onto the walls; an arrow struck it, the icon turned its face to the city and wept, and the besiegers fell into confusion and fled.
1170 CE · 58.52, 31.28 · status: legend
The account
The victory over Andrey Bogolyubsky's army became Novgorod's great civic miracle, celebrated as the feast of the Sign (Znamenie) on 27 November. A 15th-century icon, 'The Battle of the Novgorodians with the Suzdalians', shows the scene in three tiers. The chronicles say Suzdalian prisoners were sold so cheaply afterwards that they cost less than sheep.
The sceptical view
The earliest chronicle notice credits the victory to God and the cross; the detailed tears-and-arrow story appears in later tales.