Sacred remains of a medieval Georgian regent tortured in Persia for her faith will be returned to the country for exhibitions and pilgrimage after successful conclusion of talks between cultural agencies of Georgia and India this week, Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia said.
Remains of the 17th century Queen Ketevan will go on display at museum and religious venues and will be on public view for history enthusiasts and the faithful for six months.
The queen's remains will go on display at the Georgian National Museum as well as the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi and Orthodox Church eparchies across the country.
While museum-goers and church followers visit the venues hosting the remains, an international conference will bring together historians and experts from cultural agencies to discuss research and conservation efforts related to the legacy of the queen, Agenda.ge reported.
Known as Ketevan the Martyr after she was posthumously canonised by Patriarch Zachary of Georgia in the 17th century, the queen was tortured and killed in the Persian city of Shiraz in 1624 at the hands of Shah Abbas I of Persia.
She ended up in Persian captivity in 1614 after embarking on the trip to negotiate with the shah before surrendering herself in a bid to prevent an imminent Persian invasion of the East Georgian Kingdom of Kakheti.
She was tortured and killed after refusing to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam while in captivity. The torture was witnessed and documented by Catholic missionaries from Portugal, who later secretly excavated her body and transferred it to an Augustine monastery in Isfahan.
The talks on transporting the queen's remains to Georgia have involved efforts from the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia.
