In the middle of the 18th century, an unknown Russian master painted the Exaltation of the Holy Cross icon. For the plot, he used the legend of discovering the Cross on which the Messiah was crucified. According to the legend, the elderly mother of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, Elena, went to Jerusalem in search of the crucifix. Arriving to the city at about 326, the pilgrim, with the support of her son and the bishop of Jerusalem, Macarius, began excavations at Calvary in the hope of finding some relics of the Passion of Christ, the last days of the Savior.
Elena managed to find the cave of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus had been buried after the crucifixion. Not far from it, three crosses were found. According to one version, the Cross of Jesus Christ was identified when a dying woman healed touching it. According to another version, a dead man who was carried by the excavation site was resurrected when his hand brushed on the Cross. Hence the name of the Cross, the Life-giving Cross. Constantine the Great erected a temple in honor of the Resurrection of Christ on the site of the acquisition of the Holy Sepulcher and Calvary.
Elena managed to find the cave of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus had been buried after the crucifixion. Not far from it, three crosses were found. According to one version, the Cross of Jesus Christ was identified when a dying woman healed touching it. According to another version, a dead man who was carried by the excavation site was resurrected when his hand brushed on the Cross. Hence the name of the Cross, the Life-giving Cross. Constantine the Great erected a temple in honor of the Resurrection of Christ on the site of the acquisition of the Holy Sepulcher and Calvary.
