17th century Georgian queen’s remains from Goa back to homeland

Sacred remains of a medieval Georgian regent tortured in Persia for her faith have returned to the country for exhibitions and pilgrimage today.

After successful conclusion of talks between cultural agencies of Georgia and India this August, remains of the 17th century Queen Ketevan will go on display at the Georgian National Museum as well as the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi and Orthodox Church eparchies across the country.

Known as Ketevan the Martyr after she was posthumously canonised by Patriarch Zachary of Georgia in the 17th century, the queen was tortured and killed in the Persian city of Shiraz in 1624 at the hands of Shah Abbas I of Persia.

She ended up in Persian captivity in 1614 after embarking on the trip to negotiate with the shah before surrendering herself in a bid to prevent an imminent Persian invasion of the East Georgian Kingdom of Kakheti.

Queen Ketevan was tortured and killed after refusing to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam while in captivity. The torture was witnessed and documented by Catholic missionaries from Portugal, who later secretly excavated her body and transferred it to an Augustine monastery in Isfahan.

Later some of the regent's remains were brought to Georgia, where they were preserved at the Alaverdi Cathedral until 1723, when they were lost.

Some of the other remains ended up in a Church of St. Augustine in Goa, India, as well as in Vatican and Belgium.