Orthodox icon | Mother of God of Korsun | Korsunskaya | 4676

The festival of this famous miraculous icon is celebrated on October 9th. According to church legend, Prince Vladimir brought them from Kherson (Korsunja) in the Crimea to Kiev in 988. Later the icon came to a stay in Novgorod in the Dormition Cathedral (Uspenskiy sobor) in Moscow, where it is still located today.

According to legend, the second miraculous icon of the Korsunskaya Mother of God was brought to Polotsk by Efrossinia von Polotsk (Polotska) from Ephesis in the 12th century. Both icons have survived to this day. In art history, they are considered Hodegetria icons. Many churches were dedicated to Mother of God Korsunskaya.

A special variant of the icon shows a representation with the child hugging the mother’s neck.