The sacred relic of Saint Barbara will be on display at the Greek Orthodox Church of Agia Varvara at the western suburb of Athens, Peristeri, from May 10 through to May 24. The relic will be welcomed by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece during a special ceremony when it arrives in Athens from the Venetian island of Murano.

Saint Barbara lived around the 3rd to 4th century A.D. and died a martyrs death. Her relics were exhubed and ended up in Bithynia, modern-day Turkey. They were transferred to Istanbul before being taken to Italy by a relative of a Byzantine princess who married John, the son of Pietro II Orseolo, the doge of Venice (991-1009).

Originally at Saint Mark’s in Venice, the relics were transferred to a church in Torcello, before being brought to Saint Martin on the island of Murano.