Ministry under Ottoman Rule
George served the Greek Orthodox community of Neapolis in Cappadocia as a priest of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos. The sources present him as a pastor of unusual gentleness, distinguished by love, meekness, brotherly love, and forbearance, who carried out his ministry with righteousness and holiness among Christians living under Ottoman rule.
His martyrdom came in the course of that ministry: in 1797 he was invited to the village of Malakopi, about six hours from Neapolis, to serve at a great feast and bless the Christians there. The journey took him through open country where he was vulnerable to attack.
Martyrdom
As George approached Malakopi, at a place called Kobia Dere — translated in the sources as 'ravine' — he was set upon by Turkish shepherds. The accounts relate that they fell on him with great fury, robbed him, stripped him naked, and put him to death by cutting off his head.
Four days passed before the citizens of Neapolis, alarmed at his failure to return, located his remains. A shepherd, fearing reprisals, hastily buried him in a shallow grave marked only by a stone bearing the inscription 'The Priest George.'
Relics & Shrines
The accounts relate that George appeared in a vision to a pious widow, telling her what had happened and urging her to inform the town's mayor so that his burial place could be found; when the dream was repeated she did so. Led by a priest named Neophytos, the citizens of Neapolis excavated the grave and found the relic whole and incorrupt, said to give off a heavenly fragrance.
In 1924, with the exchange of populations that removed the Greeks of Cappadocia to Greece, Archimandrite Ignatios — priest of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos — transferred the relic, bringing it by steamer from the shore of Mersinis to Attica. It was enshrined in the Church of Saint Eustathios in New Neapolis, Perissos.
Miracles & Traditions
Traditional Accounts: The sources report that miracles followed at the saint's tomb in Neapolis and continued after the relic's transfer to Greece — the sick and disabled were healed, childless couples bore children, and during drought blessed rain fell strongly when the citizens called upon him. These accounts come from the synaxarial tradition surrounding the saint rather than from independent documentation.
An Apolytikion (dismissal hymn) in the Fourth Tone honors him as a hieromartyr who contested for the Faith even unto blood.
