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Venerable-Martyr14th century

Martyrs of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery in Georgia

14th century (martyred during the invasions of Timur, late 1380s)

Also known as The Monk-Martyrs of Kvabtakhevi

Monastics and faithful of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery in Georgia who were slain when the armies of Tamerlane invaded and devastated the country's churches and monasteries during the reign of King Bagrat V.

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Commemorated as

The Holy Venerable Martyrs of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery in Georgia

Life

The Martyrs of Kvabtakhevi were monastics and faithful of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery in Georgia who were slain when the armies of Timur (Tamerlane) invaded and devastated the country during the reign of King Bagrat V. The synaxarion remembers them as a collective martyrdom kept on April 10.

The killings belong to the wider destruction of Georgian churches and monasteries in Timur's repeated campaigns against the kingdom in the late fourteenth century.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 4

Your holy martyrs O Lord,
through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God.
For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through their intercessions, save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline2 momentsReadHide
  1. 1386Timur's invasion of GeorgiaIn the late autumn of 1386 a large army under Timur invaded the Georgian kingdom; Tbilisi fell after a siege, on 22 November 1386. The campaigns of Timur during the reign of Bagrat V (1360-1394) ravaged the central province of Kartli and razed ancient churches and monasteries.
  2. late 1380sMartyrdom at KvabtakheviThe synaxarion relates that, in the course of this devastation, the monastics and faithful gathered at the Kvabtakhevi Monastery were put to death by the invaders for their confession of Christ.

Contributions & Legacy

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Historical Setting

Kvabtakhevi Monastery lies in the province of Kartli in central Georgia. During the reign of King Bagrat V (1360-1394), the kingdom was struck by the invasions of Timur, who according to the historical record campaigned against Georgia repeatedly; in the late autumn of 1386 his army invaded and Tbilisi fell on 22 November 1386, with further pressure in the following years.

The synaxarion records that the armies of Timur devastated the churches and monasteries of Georgia, and that the monastics and faithful of the Kvabtakhevi Monastery were slain in this assault. They are remembered together as a single commemoration, a named cluster of monastic martyrs.

Veneration

The martyrs of Kvabtakhevi are commemorated as one feast on April 10 among the saints of the Georgian Church.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints