Orthodox Christians in Georgia are celebrating one of the most significant days in the country’s religious calendar – Saint George’s Day [Giorgoba].

A festive liturgy is being held at churches across the country, including the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi.

Orthodox Christians celebrate Saint George’s Day twice a year, on May 6 and November 23 (according to the Julian calendar). November 23 marks the day when Saint George was tortured on the wheel.

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, Saint 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.