Today Georgia is celebrating Saint Georgia’s day, which is the one of
the most important days for orthodox Christians. 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.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.
Saint George was born in the latter half 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).
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