Holy Hermit Barbarus. Cult and representation in the Middle Ages

Abstract

The paper presents extant texts narrating about St. Barbarus composed in Greek and in the Bulgarian recension of the Old Church Slavonic language. The veneration of the holy hermit and siderophoros, connected with the Nikopolis region and the Ambracian Gulf in the Greek written heritage and with Pelagonia in the Slavic one, is briefly discussed. His preserved medieval portrayals, found in Byzantium and in the Balkan countries, are listed. Finally, conclusions about his cult and representation are proposed.