Ketevan the Martyr

Queen of Kakheti, holy martyr

c. 1560–1624

Queen Ketevan of Kakheti was held hostage by the Persian Shah Abbas I. In 1624 at Shiraz she was ordered to renounce Christ and accept Islam, but she refused and was put to a torturous death.

The Georgian Church canonised Ketevan. Her steadfastness became a symbol of fidelity to the faith; the search for her relics continues to this day.