Church of St. George
The burial place of St. George.
St. George → Plan a trip hereThe Story
The Church of St. George in Lod (ancient Lydda), Israel, is venerated as the burial place of St. George, the fourth-century soldier-martyr honored across both East and West. According to the traditional account, George was a Roman soldier who was martyred for his faith during the persecution of Diocletian around the year 303, and his body was brought to Lydda, his mother's home town, where a shrine grew up over his tomb. Very little about George's life can be established historically — the Church has venerated him since antiquity while acknowledging that reliable details of his acts were lost early on. The famous story of George slaying a dragon is a medieval legend, popularized by the Golden Legend, and is understood as an allegory of faith conquering evil rather than as history. What is certain is the remarkable antiquity and breadth of his cult: churches were dedicated to him in the East by the fifth and sixth centuries, and devotion spread through the Byzantine world and, with the Crusades, throughout Europe. The shrine at Lydda was built, destroyed, and rebuilt repeatedly over the centuries — in the Byzantine era, under the Crusaders, and finally in the late Ottoman period. The present church, completed in the early 1870s by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, incorporates remains of the Crusader basilica, and a crypt beneath the sanctuary holds a sarcophagus honored as the martyr's tomb. St. George is remembered on the General Roman Calendar on April 23 and is patron of England, of soldiers, and of many cities and nations. Pilgrims of many traditions — Orthodox, Catholic, and others — come to Lod to venerate one of the most beloved martyrs of the early Church.
Church Recognition
St. George is venerated by the universal Church as an early martyr, with an optional memorial on the General Roman Calendar (April 23); the church over his traditional tomb in Lod is administered by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Church has long acknowledged that historical details of his life are scarce.
Catholic Teaching
Devotion to St. George expresses the Church's veneration of the martyrs, whose witness unto death is the supreme testimony to the truth of the faith (CCC 2473) and whose intercession belongs to the communion of saints (CCC 946–962, 1674).
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Pilgrims visit the crypt beneath the church, where a sarcophagus is venerated as the tomb of St. George, as well as remnants of the earlier Crusader church. The site is especially crowded for the saint's feasts, notably April 23 and the November celebrations kept by the Greek Orthodox community; visitors should note the church is an active Orthodox place of worship and dress modestly.
Go Deeper
See the entry on St. George in Butler's Lives of the Saints for a sober account of the traditions surrounding him, the Catechism of the Catholic Church on martyrdom (CCC 2473) and the veneration of saints (CCC 1674), and pilgrimage resources on the Holy Land shrines such as those of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Location
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In the Area
Other sacred sites within 40 miles.