The miraculous icon of Theotokos Ierosolimitissa is placed in the church of Holy Protection of Saint Panteleimon’s Monastery. The icon was created by the Russian ascetic Nicon, who was a monk in the desert of Saint Nil Sorsky. The Virgin Mary appeared to the monk and commanded him to send the icon as a blessing to the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on Mount Athos.
The icon follows the standard iconographic type of Theotokos Hodegetria. She holds Jesus Christ in her right hand, while her left hand is placed near her chest, blessing the faithful. On the right and left side of Virgin Mary there is a portrait, of Saint Joachim on the right and Saint Anne on the left. The gilded frame leaves the faces of Theotokos and Jesus uncovered. At the bottom there is an inscription in Old Slavonic. As it is stated, the icon was created in 1825 in Russia, in the dormitory of the Krivoozersky monastery, by Hieromonk Nikon.
The icon of Theotokos of Jerusalem was framed afterwards. On the frame there is an inscription with a pray to the Virgin Mary. In those lines it is asked to grant her protection and save us from all evil.
The icon is a copy of the icon of Theotokos of Jerusalem, the patroness of the city of Jerusalem, which is kept in the church of the Dormition of Theotokos. The icon differs from the original, as the Virgin Mary holds Jesus in her right, rather than her left hand.
