Venerable Isidore of Samtavisi

Venerable Isidore of Samtavisi was one of the Thirteen Syrian (Assyrian) Fathers who came in the mid-6th century with St. John of Zedazeni from Cappadocia/Syria to Kartli to strengthen Christianity and establish monastic life in Georgia. After the fathers dispersed by lot to found monasteries and dioceses across the country, St. Isidore settled in the district of Samtavisi (historical Shida Kartli region), where, after long ascetic labors, he founded a monastery in honor of the Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. He instructed the local people in the faith and led a life of strict asceticism, earning from his contemporaries the title "garden of virtue." The monastery he founded — Samtavisi Cathedral — became a major spiritual center of the region and survives today as a monument of medieval Georgian architecture. His relics rest under the floor of the south chapel of Samtavisi Cathedral.