The church houses the relics of Saint Spyridon in a luxurious silver larnaca – or shrine – made in Vienna in 1867. The remains were transferred to Constantinople in the 7th century AD to protect them from Arab raids on Cyprus, where he was born and lived. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, they were moved for safety to Venetian-occupied Corfu, whose inhabitants still call out his name in every difficult situation. The feast day of St Spyridon is December the 12th, but many celebrations are held in his name in memory of his miracles. Three celebrations – on Palm Sunday, Holy Saturday before Easter and the first Sunday in November – commemorate the island being saved from the plague in the 16th and the 17th centuries, and August 11 is celebrated in memory of Corfu's rescue from the Ottomans.