Venerable Zeno of Ikalto

Venerable Zeno of Ikalto was one of the Thirteen Syrian (Assyrian) Fathers who came in the 6th century from Mesopotamia to Georgia under the guidance of St. John of Zedazeni to establish and strengthen the Orthodox faith in Iberia. By lot, cast among the disciples at their teacher's direction before their dispersal for independent labors, Zeno was assigned to the Kakheti region, where at the locality of Ikalto he founded a monastery that later became not only a spiritual but also a major educational center of the region (the famous Ikalto Academy later developed on its basis). He led a strict ascetic life, earning veneration as one of the founding fathers of Georgian monasticism. The exact date of his repose is not established.