caption death_date death_place birth_place feast_day venerated_in image article_title name
john of athos the iberian , gabriel the iberian and euthymius ~ 1002 ad mount athos georgia july 12 roman catholic church ; eastern orthodox church sabinin . st. ioane , gabriel and eqvtime hagiorits.jpg john the iberian
 saint john the iberian
john the iberian

john the iberian -lrb- , `` ioane '' ; died -rrb- was a georgian monk , who is venerated as a saint .
his name refers to the caucasian iberia , not to the spanish peninsula , and he is also known as john the georgian , john the hagiorite , and john iweron .
a member of the georgian nobility , he was married and served as a military commander .
however , he later became a monk in bithynia and then traveled to constantinople to rescue his son , euthymius the illuminator -lrb- `` euthymius opplyseren '' -rrb- .
euthymius had been held as a hostage by the emperor .
john and his son attracted many followers , so they both retired to the monastery of saint athanasius on mount athos .
they founded iviron monastery with the help of john 's brother-in-law , john thornikos , a retired general .
john served as the first abbot of iviron .
