St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov (in the world Daniel Savvich Tuptalo), was born in December 1651 in the town of Makarov, near Kiev, into a pious family and grew up a deeply believing Christian. In 1662, shortly after his parents moved to Kiev, Daniel was sent to the Kyiv-Mohyla College, where the talents and extraordinary abilities of a talented young man were revealed for the first time. He successfully studied Greek and Latin languages and a number of classical sciences. On July 9, 1668, Daniel became a monk with the name Demetrius, in honor of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. Until the spring of 1675, he underwent monastic obedience at the Kiev Cyril Monastery, where his literary and preaching activities began. 
Archbishop Lazar (Baranovich) of Chernigov ordained Dimitry a hieromonk on May 23, 1675. For several years, Hieromonk Dimitry labored, preaching the word of God, in various monasteries and churches in Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus. For some time he was abbot of the Maximov Monastery, and then of the Baturinsky Nikolsky Monastery, from where he was summoned to the Kiev Caves Lavra in 1684. The abbot of the Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam (Yasinsky), knowing the high spiritual spirit of his former pupil, his education, his penchant for scientific work, as well as his undoubted literary talent, instructed Hieromonk Dimitri to compile a Series of Minas (lives of saints) for the whole year. From that time on, the rest of St. Demetrius' life was devoted to the fulfillment of this ascetic, grandiose work. The work required a great effort, it was necessary to collect and analyze many disparate sources and present them in a language worthy of a high subject and at the same time accessible to all believers. Divine help did not leave the saint throughout his twenty years of work. According to the testimony of the monk, his soul was filled with images of saints, which strengthened his spirit and body, and instilled faith in the successful completion of his noble work. At the same time, St. Demetrius was the abbot of several monasteries (alternately). 
The ascetic's labors attracted the attention of Patriarch Adrian. In 1701, by decree of Peter the Great, Archimandrite Dimitri was summoned to Moscow, where on March 23, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, he was consecrated to the Siberian Metropolitan See in the city of Tobolsk. But after some time, due to the importance of scientific work and poor health, the saint received a new appointment to Rostov-Yaroslavsky, where he arrived on March 1, 1702 as Metropolitan of Rostov.
As before, he continued to take vigilant care of strengthening the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church, weakened by the Old Believer schism.
Many generations of Russian theologians draw spiritual strength for creativity and prayer from his inspired writings and sermons. For all Orthodox Christians, he remains an example of a holy, ascetic, non-possessive life. After his death, which followed on October 28, 1709, they found no property except books and manuscripts.
St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, was canonized on April 22, 1757. His feast was also established on September 21, the day of the finding of the relics.
St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, arrived at the Rostov see in 1702 and first of all visited the monastery of St. James, Bishop of Rostov (commemorated on November 27 and May 23). In the cathedral church in honor of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos, he celebrated the liturgy, after which, in front of all those present in the temple, he identified the place of his future burial on the right side with the words: "This is my rest, where I will dwell forever and ever." St. Demetrius reposed on October 28, 1709. Despite the desire of the saint expressed in his will, the clergy and residents of Rostov asked the locum tenens of the Patriarchal See of Ryazan, Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky, who arrived for burial to perform the burial in the cathedral church of the city, next to the predecessor of St. Demetrius, St. Joasaph. Metropolitan Stephen, observing the will of his deceased friend, insisted on the burial of the body of St. Demetrius in the specified place. However, no burial place had been prepared before Metropolitan Stephen's arrival, although about a month had passed since his death. Due to the urgent departure of Metropolitan Stephen from Rostov, a hastily prepared wooden log house was made in the dug grave, in which the body of the saint was buried on November 25. This circumstance, provided for by God's Providence, led to the speedy finding of the relics. In 1752, repairs were carried out in the cathedral church of the monastery, and on September 21, during the repair of the lowered floor, the incorruptible body of St. Demetrius was discovered. The burial place turned out to be damp, the oak coffin and the manuscripts in it had decayed, but the body of the saint, as well as the omophorion, saccos, mitre and silk rosary remained incorruptible. 
After finding the holy relics, many healings were performed, which was reported to the Synod, on whose instructions Metropolitan Sylvester of Suzdal and Archimandrite Gabriel of Simonov arrived in Rostov to examine the relics of St. Demetrius and the miraculous healings that had taken place. This was followed by a decree of the Synod of April 29, 1757, on the beatification of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, and the establishment of celebrations on October 28 (the day of the repose) and September 21 (the day of the finding of the relics).