07 — Veneration

Despite the deliberate destruction of his body to prevent a cult, Abo became the patron saint of Tbilisi. This section treats his veneration: the fixing of his cult at the site of his burning on the Kura, beneath the cliff of Metekhi and near the Abanotubani baths; the St. Abo church; his feast on 8 January; and the character of a cult that venerates a place and a memory rather than surviving bodily relics.

Tradition: Georgian Orthodox

The first file treats Abo as the patron of Tbilisi — the Metekhi/Abanotubani tradition of the site of his martyrdom, the church dedicated to him, and the feast of 8 January. The second treats the cult and the relics: by the authorities’ design no bodily relics survived, so Abo’s veneration attached to the place of his death and the memory of the light over the river, and it lives on in the liturgy and the icons.

Files

File	Description
the-patron-of-tbilisi.md	Abo as patron saint of Tbilisi; the Metekhi/Abanotubani site; the St. Abo church; the feast of 8 January
the-cult-and-the-relics.md	The cult — no bodily relics survived by design; the veneration of the place; the icons

See Also

• 04 — The Martyrdom — the destruction of the body that shaped the cult
• 08 — Abo and Georgian Identity — the meaning of the Arab patron of the Georgian capital