George the Builder

Venerable George the Builder was a Georgian monk of the Iviron monastery on Mount Athos and its third abbot. According to some sources he was a nephew of Saint John, the founder and first abbot of Iviron. He was raised to the rank of abbot after Saint Euthymius left for Jerusalem. Under his leadership the main church of the Dormition of the Mother of God was built; an inscription on the wall reads: "I established these columns and they will not be shaken unto the ages. Monk George the Georgian, Builder."

For most of his life Abbot George was highly respected and revered even at the imperial court of Byzantium, but he was eventually slandered, accused of treason, and exiled to the island of Monovatia, where he reposed in the year 1029. He is commemorated on 28 July (new style).