Silvan

Holy Martyr Silvan is a martyr honoured at Dubrovnik, probably of the fourth century (according to the Serbian source, who died between 300 and 350), whose relics have been kept since the middle of the nineteenth century in the church of Saint Blaise in Dubrovnik. Little is known of him. His commemoration is on 30 July.

According to William Frederick Wingfield, the skeleton of Saint Silvan was given, together with a wax figure, by Pope Pius IX to the city of Dubrovnik. The figure shows a young man with an embroidered cross on the front of his garment, which indicates that he may have been a priest or even a cleric of higher rank. According to the Serbian source, Silvan seems to have been very young when he suffered, and his preserved body is displayed even today, seventeen centuries after his death.

A number of Silvans have been canonized as saints, and it is unclear which Silvan is entombed in the church of Saint Blaise. Most sources say that the Silvan at Dubrovnik was martyred in the fourth century, and a gruesome wound on the neck shows the manner of his martyrdom. This may indicate that he is Saint Silvanus, bishop of Emesa in Phoenicia, martyred about 311. Other saints named Silvan died in other ways (for example thrown off a cliff, or of natural causes) or at an age which shows they cannot be the Silvan at Dubrovnik. Still others are believed to be buried elsewhere.