Cjss second Issue: cjss second Issue qxd

Images of St Eugenios in Georgia and Cultural 
and Political Ties with the Empire of Trebizond
Nino Chikhladze
Georgian National Museum
ccording to Georgian and foreign sources it is believed that Tre-
bizond Empire was created by the help of Georgian kingdom. This
political event is revealed not only in the literature sources, but also
in mural painting of Georgian churches. In particular this refers to
the representations of St. Eugenios of Trebizond: the patron of the
newly created empire. The fact is that St Eugenios was never more
than local saint and his representations are very few outside the
Trebizond area. That is the reason why the representations of St
Eugenios in Georgian churches are so important and could be con-
sidered as the part of contemporary Georgian politics. 
There is a figure of holy soldier with old Georgian inscription
“St. Eugenios of Trebizond” in the mural painting of Timotesubani
dated by 1205-1215 years. Another example of declaring the polit-
ical project that has been prepared by Georgian kingdom a long
time ago, can be seen in Vardzia (1184 -1185), where the royal do-
nators _ King Giorgi III and his daughter Queen Tamar are repre-
sented with St. Eugenios of Trebizond.
wm. evgenis gamosaxulebebi saqarTveloSi da 
kulturul-politikuri kavSirebi 
trapizonis imperiasTan
nino CixlaZe
saqarTvelos erovnuli muzeumi
adReisod rogorc qarTuli, ise ucxouri werilobiTi
wyaroebis SejerebiT CvenSic da sazRvargareTis mniSvnelo-
van samecniero wreebSic miRebulia azri, rom 1204 wels
trapizonis imperia qarTuli saxelmwifos uSualo
xelSewyobiTa da saxsrebiT daarsda. Seiqmna
saqarTvelosadmi loialurad ganwyobili qveyana da imav-
A
A
s
s
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droulad, moxda samxreT SavizRvispireTSi qarTuli sax-
elmwifos gavlenis sferos gavrcoba. mocemul politikur
movlenaTa amsaxvel Tu maTze mimaniSnebel literaturul
wyaroebTan erTad, vfiqrobT, mniSvnelovania qarTul ekle-
siaTa moxatulobebSi dadasturebuli saxviTi wyaroebic,
romlebic udaod Seicavs saxelmwifo politikis gamomx-
atvel informacias. saqme exeba pontos midamoebis
lokaluri mniSvnelobis wmindanis _ evgeni trapizonelis
saqarTveloSi SemorCenil gamosaxulebebs, romelTa rao-
denoba trapizonsa da mis mimdebare regionSic ar aris
bevri, me-12 saukunis dasasrulisa da me-13 saukunis dasawyi-
sis Zeglebi ki iSviaTi gamonaklisia.
swored am konteqstSi ganixileba timoTesubnis 1205-
1215 wlebs Soris Sesrulebuli wm. meomris gamosaxuleba
Tanmdevi asomTavruli warweriT:  “wm. evgeni trapizonelia”
da varZiis cnobili saqtitoro kompozicia Sesrulebuli
trapizonis imperiis daarsebamde 20 wliT adre, 1184-1185
wlebs Soris, sadac mefe giorgi III da Tamar mefe
mfarvelobas Cviledi RmrTismSoblis xatTan erTad, eve-
drebian swored wm. evgeni trapizonels.
The paper deals with the images of St Eugenios of Trebizond surviving
in Georgia. Only a negligible number of images of the saint preserve in Trebi-
zond and its surrounding regions, while there is not a single securely identi-
fied representation from the 12
th
-13
th
century. 
Who is St Eugenios of Trebizond and how did his cult evolve? This is a
local saint, who gained popularity in the environs of Trebizond as early as the
Middle Ages. The first epic text describing his martyrdom, presumably writ-
ten not earlier than the 6
th
century, tells a story of St Eugenios, instrumental
in spreading Christianity in Trebizond under Roman Emperors Diocletian and
Maximian in the 3
rd
century, as well as about his three companions, St
Kanidios, St. Valerianos and St. Akylas, all of whom are commemorated on 21
January. The story has it that St Kanidios, St. Valerianos and St. Akylas were
arrested together, tortured and executed, while St Eugenios was found slightly
later hiding in the environs of Trebizond, in a place called ‘thorny’. After being
tortured through different means, he, as well as his companions, was be-
headed (J.O. Rosenqvist, 2003, 194-195). On the one hand, the popularity of
St Eugenios in the region in the early Middle Ages is without doubt, which is
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indicated by a legend concerning a trial in Constantinople preserved in the
collection of the miracles of St Eugenios compiled by Metropolitan Johnanes
Lazaropulos of Trebizond. The merchants from Trebizond summoned to the
court as witnesses cited only Eugenios. Each of them being called Eugenios,
the judge raised a question as to why a Trapezuntine referred only to St Eu-
genios while there was a multitude of other saints and why their majority
bore this name. Later, as for example in the period of the Empire of Trebizond,
the situation with respect to this name changed, due to which the description
given in the legend is assigned to an earlier period (J.O. Rosenqvist, 2003, pp.
199-200; F. Uspenskij, 1929, p.13). However, despite its popularity, the cult of
St Eugenios failed to fully emerge in the Early Middle Ages: only several pre-
requisites of the evolution of the cult of the saint could be observed. The text
on the martyrdom mentioned neither the day of the death nor the precise
place of burial. Nor the image, social status and appearance of the saint were
specified (J.O. Rosenqvist, 2003, p.195). Moreover, even the 11
th
century re-
vised version of the martyrdom presented by the Greek writer of Trebizond
origin, Joannes Xiphilinus, fails to reveal much about the evolution of the cult,
which allows us to assume that by the beginning of the 11
th
century, St Euge-
nios’s church and monastery as a pilgrimage centre was not of major impor-
tance in Trebzond  (J.O. Rosenqvist, 2003, p. 197). It became such only after
the establishment of the Empire of Trebizond, when the cult reached new
height. With the help of the state, the saint was declared official protector of
Caesar, the city of Trebizond and the entire empire (J.O. Rosenqvist, 2003, pp.
197-9; A. Eastmond, 2004, p. 146). His image was imprinted on the coat of
arms and the seals of the ruling dynasty of the Komnenoi, as well as on aspers,
silver coins struck in Trebizond. St Eugenios’s Church was named among the
three holiest sites in the Empire of Trebizond the other two being Virgin
Chrysokephalos (‘Gold-headed’) and Hagia Sophia (F. Uspenskij, 1929, p. 14).
Originally built as a basilica and later transformed into a domed church, it at-
tracted particular attention after the victory of the second emperor of Trebi-
zond, Andronikos Gidos over Seljuk Melik, since the victory was associated
with the miraculous patronage of St Eugenios (A. Eastmond, 2004, pp. 51-53,
A. Bryer, 2002, part 2, p. 90). Described in the typicon of St Eugenios’s
monastery, the celebration of the day of the commemoration of the saint that
started a day before, on 20 January and was attended by a large number of
people, demonstrates the pompousness which characterized the event dedi-
cated to the patron saints of the Empire (J.O. Rosenqvist, 2003, p. 200). The
reverence to the cult of St Eugenios was pursued in the same way throughout
the existence of the Empire of Trebizond. The saint was considered to be a
protector of the population of Trebizond in their struggle against enemies
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