Bayan mutuwar abokin aurensa na farko, Maria na Tver (1467), kuma bisa shawarar Paparoma Paul II (1469), wanda ya yi fatan ya ɗaure Muscovy ga Mai Tsarki Mai Tsarki, Ivan III ya auri Sophia Palaiologina (wanda kuma aka sani a ƙarƙashin sunanta na asali). Zoe), 'yar Thomas Palaeologus, despot na Morea, wanda ya yi iƙirarin kursiyin Constantinople a matsayin ɗan'uwan Constantine XI, Sarkin Byzantine na ƙarshe.Da take bata fatan Paparoman na sake haduwa da mabiya addinan biyu, gimbiya ta amince da addinin Orthodox na Gabas.Saboda al'adun danginta, ta ƙarfafa ra'ayoyin sarauta a cikin tunanin ƙawarta.Ta hanyar tasirinta ne kotun Moscow ta karbe da'ar Constantinople (tare da mikiya mai kai biyu na sarki da duk abin da yake nufi).An yi bikin aure tsakanin Ivan III da Sophia a Dormition Cathedral a Moscow a ranar 12 ga Nuwamba, 1472.