Great Martyr17th century

Greatmartyr Ketevan Queen of Georgia

c. 1560 – 1624

Also known as Ketevan of Kakheti

Queen of Kakheti who was held captive by Shah Abbas of Persia and, refusing to renounce Christ or accept Islam, was tortured to death in 1624.

September 13New Calendar

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Commemorated as

The Holy and Glorious Greatmartyr Ketevan, Queen of Kakheti

Life

Ketevan (born around 1560) was a queen of Kakheti, a kingdom in eastern Georgia, and a member of the Bagrationi dynasty through the House of Mukhrani. She married David Bagration, who reigned briefly as David I of Kakheti, and after his death exercised political authority as regent during the minority of their son Teimuraz I. Her reign coincided with a period of severe Safavid Persian pressure on the Georgian kingdoms.

In 1614 she traveled to the court of Shah Abbas I of Persia as a hostage, hoping to spare Kakheti from invasion. Held in captivity at Shiraz for roughly a decade, she refused repeated demands to renounce Christianity and accept Islam, and was tortured to death in 1624. She is venerated in the Orthodox Church as a great martyr, with her feast kept on September 13.

Troparion & Kontakion2 hymnsReadHide

TroparionTone 3

Your holy martyr Ketevan, O Lord,
through her sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God.
For having Your strength, she laid low her adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through her intercessions, save our souls!

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

KontakionTone 2

(Podoben: “You sought the heights...”) You appeared as a bright star announcing Christ with your radiance,
which is repulsive to this world, O Martyr Ketevan;
extinguishing the allure of false gods,
you enlighten the faithful,
always interceding for us all.

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

Timeline6 momentsReadHide

c. 1560BirthBorn a princess of the House of Mukhrani, a branch of the Bagrationi dynasty that ruled the Georgian lands. Sources name her father as a prince of Mukhrani, and one tradition reckons her a descendant of King Constantine of Kartli.
1601–1602Queen consort of KakhetiMarried Prince David Bagration, who reigned as David I, King of Kakheti, becoming queen consort. After David's early death she devoted herself to the affairs of the kingdom and the Georgian Church.
1605Defeat of the usurper ConstantineWhen her brother-in-law Constantine, who had converted to Islam, killed King Alexander II and his son with Safavid backing, Ketevan took up arms against him and defeated him, helping to restore stability and securing the throne for her son Teimuraz I.
1605–1614RegencyServed as regent of Kakheti during the minority of Teimuraz I, and by tradition supported the Georgian Church through the founding of churches and charitable houses.
1614Hostage to Shah Abbas ITo forestall a Persian invasion of Kakheti, Ketevan went as a hostage to negotiate with the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I. The mission failed and she was detained in Persia.
1624Martyrdom at ShirazAfter about ten years of imprisonment at Shiraz, she refused Shah Abbas's order to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. She was tortured to death, an event dated to September 13, 1624.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributionsReadHide

Captivity and Martyrdom

Held prisoner at Shiraz for roughly a decade, Ketevan repeatedly refused demands that she abandon the Christian faith. According to the accounts of her life, Shah Abbas I, in part as retaliation for the resistance of her son Teimuraz, ordered that she renounce Christianity on pain of death.

When she refused, she was put to death by torture. The traditional accounts describe the use of red-hot pincers and a heated vessel placed upon her head; her death is commemorated on September 13, 1624. Patriarch Zachary of Georgia, who led the Georgian Church in this period, canonized her and instituted her feast on that date.

Relics & Shrines

Portuguese Augustinian missionaries, who by tradition witnessed her martyrdom, carried portions of her relics away from Persia. Part of her remains were brought to Georgia and interred at the Alaverdi Monastery in Kakheti, while other relics were associated with the Church of St. Augustine in Goa, India.

In 2013 a DNA analysis of bone fragments recovered at the Goa site reported them to belong to a Georgian woman, lending support to the long-standing identification. On July 9, 2021, relics held in India were handed over to the Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.

Companions1 figureShowHide

King of Kartli, martyred under the same Shah Abbas of Persia.

Martyr Luarsab IIKing of Kartli

Related Saints1 saintShowHide

Saints connected to her life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Who composed a set of hymns in her honour, now lost.

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