Golden Orthodox cross "Exaltation of the Cross. Don Icon of the Mother of God" with blackening p01840 Onyx

Golden Orthodox cross "Exaltation of the Cross. Don Icon of the Mother of God" with blackening

Metal: red gold 585"
Average weight: 7.91 g
Height with eyelet: 3.7 cm
Height without eyelet: 2.7 cm
Width: 2.1 cm
Ear size: 0.7 x 0.4 cm

The pectoral cross with the image of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the front side and the Don Icon of the Mother of God with selected saints on the back was created using the forms and images most revered by the Russian Cossacks. Cossacks are free people, brave warriors who served their Fatherland with faith and truth, and created an original culture imbued with sincere religiosity. It was reflected in everything: in family and economic life, songs, clothes, jewelry and, of course, in the choice of revered saints and miraculous icons. Wherever Cossack fortresses and villages appeared, Orthodox churches were built first, and most often they were consecrated in honor of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The main icon of the cross is the Don image of the Mother of God, which was with the Don Cossack troops on the Kulikovo field (1380), protecting the fighting Russian soldiers with miraculous power. In 1591, the Don Icon again protected the Russian land from the Tatar invasion. The Crimean prince Nuradin was stopped on the outskirts of Moscow by a Russian army carrying a miraculous image. In gratitude, on the spot where the Don Icon stood among the warriors, the Donskoy Monastery was built and its celebration was established on September 1 (August 19). On both sides of the icon are depicted the holy noble princes and great Russian commanders - Alexander Nevsky and Dimitri Donskoy. At the base of the cross is the image of the holy baptist of Rus', Equal to the Apostles Prince. Vladimir. Vladimir ruled the Russian state for thirty-seven years (978 - 1015). Of these, twenty-eight were in Holy Baptism. The day of his repose to God, July 28 (15), 1015, became the day of church remembrance of the saint.