The icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, painted in Constantinople in the early twelfth century and brought to Kyiv about 1131, had been enshrined at Vladimir since 1155. On the news that Timur's army had crossed the Don and was moving on Moscow, Grand Prince Vasily I sent for the icon; it was carried in solemn procession to Moscow and met by Metropolitan Cyprian at what is now Sretenka Street on August 26, 1395.
That same day, according to the Nikon Chronicle, Timur — encamped near Yelets — dreamed of an immense mountain and a radiant woman surrounded by luminous soldiers who commanded him to leave the Russian lands. He convened his emirs the following morning, ordered a withdrawal, and turned toward the Caucasus. Moscow was spared.
The Sretensky ('Meeting') Monastery was founded on the spot where the icon had been received, and the deliverance is commemorated in the Russian Church on August 26. The icon itself remains one of the most venerated Marian images in the world; it is now housed at the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, adjacent to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.