Georgia celebrates Saint George’s day

Today Georgia is celebrating Saint Georgia’s day, which is the one of the most important days for orthodox Christians. 

The majority of Georgian churches were built in Saint George’s honour.

The State Emblem of Georgia captures Saint George in the form of a man riding a horse who is slaying a dragon.

It is believed the country’s name Georgia is associated with Saint George.

Giorgi, deriving from the name George, is the most common male name in Georgia.

Saint George was born in the latter part of the third century AD to a Greek Christian noble family in Lydda, Palestine. After his father’s death, George enlisted in the Roman Army and by his late 20s, was promoted to the rank of Tribunus and joined the imperial guard of the Emperor Diocletian at Nicomedia, the eastern capital city of the Roman Empire.

During the year 303 AD, the Emperor Diocletian summoned his officers and instructed them to persecute the Christians. When George refused this he was tortured and then beheaded on April 23, (April 23 corresponds to 6 May on the Julian calendar).

Twice a year, on May 6 and November 23 (according to the Julian calendar), Saint George’s Day is celebrated among Orthodox Christians worldwide. The event is marked by various Christian churches and by several nations, kingdoms and cities where Saint George is the patron saint.