23 November: Saint George's Day in Georgia

Yesterday was Saint George’s Day in Georgia. Saint George’s Day is celebrated twice every year in Georgia: once on 23 November (his torture) and again on 6 May (his death). It was a public holiday in the country of Georgia, with the day known as Giorgoba, to mark one of their most venerated saints.

According to Georgians, St George was from Cappadocia in Central Anatolia – in present-day Turkey. He served in the Roman army. When he learned that Emperor Diocletian was persecuting Christians, George claimed that he too was Christian. He was then imprisoned, tortured and executed at the age of 30 in 303AD.

Today his image his throughout Georgia as a symbol of strength and as the special protector and patron of the nation.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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