This article discusses the veneration of Metropolitan Petr of Kyiv and all Rus' in 14th-16th century Moscow. It focuses on the shifting roles attributed to his tomb in the Dormition Cathedral, from locally developed veneration, to a source of ecclesiastical legitimacy. In the first section, I trace the cult's development from the earliest hagiographical writings to posthumous miracles included in chronicle writing and artistic representations of Petr's activity as an icon painter. The second section examines a possible attempt at ritual building for local appointments of metropolitans, after 1448, revolving around Petr's tomb. I argue that Petr's saintly image was purposely shaped over two centuries from a wonderworking saint to also a military protector of the city and a prototype of the legitimate metropolitan of all Rus'. Although his tomb did not receive a permanent place in enthronement ceremonies, in the 16th century it became synonymous with the seat of the metropolitan, and played a major role in the subsequent veneration of a correct line of ecclesiastical successors buried in its proximity.
