Case file · Apparition / miracle
The Vladimir icon turns back Timur
When Timur (Tamerlane) invaded Rus' in 1395, the icon of the Virgin of Vladimir was carried to Moscow and met by the people on 26 August; the same day, Timur turned his army south. Russian tradition says he saw the Virgin in a dream.
1395 CE · 55.77, 37.63 · status: legend
The account
The Sretensky ('Meeting') Monastery was founded where the icon was met. The Vladimir icon, a 12th-century Byzantine work, was later credited with saving Moscow from the Tatars in 1451 and 1480. It is now in the Tretyakov Gallery's church of Saint Nicholas in Tolmachi.
The sceptical view
Timur was campaigning against the Golden Horde, not Moscow, and turned south for strategic reasons.