St George is Turkish!

As I write this, it is St George’s Day! For many, it may just be another day in the year or a day to go out and drink to celebrate, but did you know that St George was in fact Turkish?

That’s right! St George was actually born in Cappadocia in Eastern Turkey. I think for a lot of people, St George’s Day is commonly associated with being very English and also with England’s flag. It’s interesting to discover that St George’s Day is celebrated not just in England but in many other countries too such as Cyprus, Bosnia, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Georgia, and Portugal. It’s great that so many countries can unite and celebrate together.

Who was St George the man though? He was soldier in the Roman army and built up a commendable reputation. He is seen as a hero and a very courageous man. At the time, Emperor Diocletian, who was a pagan, was in reign and wanted people to deny their Christian faith. This resulted in Diocletian persecuting Christians. St George happened to be a Christian and disapproved of Diocletian’s actions and therefore campaigned against the persecutions. This resulted in St George being imprisoned and later beheaded on 23^rd April 303 AD for challenging Diocletian. This probably explains why St George’s Day falls on 23^rd April!

Well I hope you’ve learnt a little more from what you already knew about St George’s Day from reading this! By the time, you’ve read this, the annual celebration would have been and passed. I hope you had a good one!