Martha and Mary of Bethany
Eastern Orthodox sources claim the sisters fled with Lazarus to Cyprus after persecution intensified. Competing Western traditions place them in southern France near Marseilles. French legends describe Martha taming a monster called the Tarasque before establishing a convent at Tarascon. Mary reportedly lived as a hermit in a mountain cave. Medieval Tarascon still venerates Martha’s purported relics. These sisters inspired numerous devotional sites throughout medieval Europe.
