Virgin Mary Portaitissa Icon – Handmade on Gold Silk Canvas, Stunning DetailThe Panagia Portaitissa (Our Lady of the Gatekeeper) of Iviron History and Tradition The miraculous icon of the Theotokos is housed in the Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos. According to tradition, during the 9th century (the time of the Iconoclasm), a pious widow in Nicaea (Asia Minor) cast the icon into the sea to protect it from destruction. The icon miraculously traveled upright over the waves and eventually arrived at the shores of Mount Athos,