Feastday: July 12
Death: 1002
Abbot also called John the Georgian or "the Hagorite." He was a noble of Georgia, sometimes called Iberia, and a military leader. In his middle age, he left his wife and went with his son, St. Euthymius, to Mount Olympias in Bithynia. They then went to Mount Athos in Macedonia and founded a monastery which endured into the twentieth century. John was revered by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII.
John the Iberian (Georgian: იოანე მთაწმინდელი; died c. 1002) was a Georgian monk, who is venerated as a saint. His name refers to his origins from the Kingdom of the Iberians.
A member of the Georgian nobility, he was married and served as a military commander. However, he later became a monk in Bithynia and then traveled to Constantinople to rescue his son, Euthymius the Illuminator (Euthymius Opplyseren). Euthymius had been held as a hostage by the emperor.
John and his son attracted many followers, so they both retired to the monastery of Saint Athanasius on Mount Athos. They founded Iviron monastery with the help of John’s brother-in-law, John Thornikos, a retired general. John served as the first abbot of Iviron. Died in 1002.
