Georgia celebrates Saint Barbara’s Day

Orthodox Georgians are celebrating the Day of Saint Barbara.

The Feast of Saint Barbara (“Barbaroba”) is connected with an old Georgian folk tradition to bake lobiani (bean pies). Each year on December 17, Georgians cooking bean pies to show respect for Saint Barbara.

Saint Barbara was born in the 4 th Century in the Greek city of Heliopolis in Syria, now modern-day Baalbek in Lebanon. She was the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus. After she converted to Christianity she was tortured and beheaded. Saint Barbara is considered as the Patron Saint of Children and Fertility.