The Cult of the Saints in the Caucasian Borderlands

This paper explores a specific aspect of the cult of saints in medieval Georgia: their role as markers of border regions. The adoption and establishment of the cult of saints in early medieval Caucasia were often shaped by contemporary political and military needs. While in some cases they were internalized by local culture (e.g. St. George), in other cases, their cultic function was extremely specific, related to specific military aims (e.g. St. Eugenios of Trebizond). Yet in other cases, the veneration of saints flourished in multiethnic border zones, commonly known as Caucasian marchlands, territories situated between the Armenian and Georgian realms, and incorporating the cultural patterns of both. The commemoration of such saints frequently functioned to delineate and mark these border zones (e.g. St. Shushanik). From the Georgian perspective, borderlands were primarily viewed in two ways – north-Caucasian and south-Caucasian borderlands: the former primarily reflected in the Caucasian highlands of Svaneti, whereas the latter characterized by mixed populations of the Lesser Caucasus. The study examines both sides of medieval Georgian border regions, analyzing how borders, landscapes, and perceptions of what lies beyond the border were reflected in the visual and narrative representations of individual saints.