Julian of Orta

Saint Julian, deacon, preached together with his brother Julius around Lake Orta in Lombardy and departed to the Lord in 391. He is commemorated on 7 January, according to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Julian and his brother, Saint Julius, a priest, were born in the fourth century on an island of Greece. Both studied at Athens. They then went to Lombardy, to the shore of the little Lake Orta, in the district of Novara.

It is said that they founded more than a hundred churches and chapels around Lake Maggiore, but only two of them are proved to be early Christian churches: the basilica of Saint Julius (Orta San Giulio) and the church of Saint Lawrence at Gozzano. Julian died in 391, shortly after his brother.

Their veneration is kept on the shores of Lakes Orta and Maggiore. Lake Orta was called Cusio in antiquity, and in the Middle Ages it was named the lake of Saint Julius. On the same day, 7 January, another Saint Julian is also commemorated, the one of Cagliari.