Martyrdom
The accounts of the February 11 saint relate that, having refused to apostatize, George was subjected to interrogation and torture before being condemned to death by fire. The sources describe him being thrown bound into the flames; by one tradition, when his bonds had burned through he made the sign of the cross and prayed, and an enraged Turk struck him to cut short his prayer. The faithful afterward gathered his remains and honored him as a martyr.
His life was written down by a contemporary, the Sofia priest known as Pop Peyo, who is described as a participant in the events. Portions of his relics are reported to have been preserved at monasteries in the region, and his memory was kept both in the Bulgarian church and more widely among Orthodox Slavs.