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The church of St. George

In the historical center of Ormilia is the beautiful church of St. George. It was built in 1818 and has since been lovingly restored.

Learn how the spiritual Wlassios saved the life of 30 people during the Turkish occupation / and rescued them from death by the Turks. The church of St. George was formerly dedicated to St. Haralambos, the legend of St. George fighting the dragon, as he rescued the princess from the clutches of the monster, and this beautiful church was burned only three years after its construction, and was devoted to building their future to Saint George.

The foundation stone of the Church of St. George in Ormilia was in 1818. At this time the church was dedicated to St. Haralambos. With great effort and many donations from the public in the same year the church could be completed. As the construction had to be approved by the former occupiers (the Turks), in fact by the wealthy Sultan in command, they could only build churches, which were no higher than the minarets erected by the Turks. You can recognize the churches built during the occupation because they were always built deep in the earth, so they still achieved enough height, but not built them higher than the existing minarets. The church, which was built in 1818, had been burned down only a short time later, namely in the middle of 1821 by the Turks. The only icon that survived the fire was without prejudice, the icon of St. George. Thus, after the church was rebuilt, it was dedicated to St. George. Many priests led the history of the community Ormilia ever since. Four of them were from families who were resident in Ormilia. Also the present priest is a son of the community. Before we learn more about the Church, we want to talk about St. George (the dragon-slayer).
The saint was born in the 3rd Century in Cappadocia.

George is certainly among the saints, from which the most popular legends have sprung up. Especially well-known should be fighting the dragon. The early onset legend distorts the actual Vita of the saint, so we do not know much about life and death of this famous martyr. George probably came from Cappadocia and was a soldier of the Roman army. Under the reign of Emperor Diocletian, he was beheaded around 305 AD. In the Eastern Church they count him one of the "Great martyrs", many churches bear his name.

The most famous legend, which has grown around the holy man, is the battle of the dragon:
The city of Silena in Libya was bullied by a dragon that polluted the air with his fiery breath. The monster was appeased by the fact that they offered him daily two sheep. As there were no more sheep, the dragon demanded a human sacrifice. The lot for the determination of the first victim was calculated on the king's daughter who took her act of devotion to the heart-rending lamentations of their parents in a wedding dress.
George promised to rid the city of the beast, if the residents of Silena would be baptized by him thereafter. This was promised him, so he rode in full armor against the dragon and injured him severely with his lance. Together with the princess, he brought the half-dead monster into the city, after which 15 000 people were baptized. George killed the dragon finally, which then was dragged out by six oxen, and was sunk in the nearby lake.

George was arrested in 305 AD by Roman persecutors of Christians. Without injuries he is said to have survived his numerous tortures, which impressed the wife of the emperor so that she was baptized. She was then beheaded, together with George at the gates of the city.