Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Day of holy martyr Zlata Maglenska - patroness of Bulgarians around the world

Photo: bg.wikipedia.org

On this day, Orthodox Christians pay homage to the Holy Great Martyr Zlata Maglenska. She lived during the Ottoman rule in the second half of the 18th century and sacrificed herself for her faith in Christ.

Zlata Maglenska was born in a poor Bulgarian family in the village of Slatino, Maglenska Diocese - today within the borders of Greece. She was a beautiful, but humble girl, known for her piety and pure heart. One day a young Turk kidnapped her, demanding that she renounce her faith, convert to Islam and marry him. However, the girl remained adamant, even when her family was threatened with death.

Zlata Mаglenska was tortured for a long time. Finally, she was hanged and her body cut into pieces. With a soul purified in suffering, she presented herself before the Lord on October 18, 1795.


Saint Zlata Maglenska is declared a great martyr and is revered throughout the Orthodox Christian world.
Following a proposal of the historian Prof. Plamen Pavlov, since 2009 Saint Zlata Maglenska has been chosen as the heavenly intercessor of Bulgarians abroad. 

The Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad has established an award for Bulgarian Woman of the Year in her name, which is awarded to Bulgarian women who have contributed to the preservation and development of the national consciousness and cultural identity of the Bulgarian communities around the world.

Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Levski's notebook is a whole universe revealing many faces of the Apostle of Freedom

Vasil Levski is a Bulgarian revolutionary and national hero who fought for the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire. He is an ideologist, founder and organizer of the Internal Revolutionary Organization, for which grateful..

published on 2/18/25 10:20 AM

The Bulgarian church of Saint Ivan Rilski will open in London on February 22

Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil will celebrate the first liturgy in London for the consecration of the new church of the Bulgarian Orthodox community in the British capital - the church of Saint Ivan Rilski. T he church is part of the Bulgarian Embassy..

published on 2/17/25 11:21 AM

The Church of St. Haralambos in Bulgaria's Shabla keeps the faith of generations alive

Every year on February 10, the feast of St. Haralambos   , Bishop of Magnesia, is celebrated with special solemnity in a small Bulgarian town in the northernmost part of the country's Black Sea coast . For Shabla and its residents, this is the..

published on 2/10/25 6:05 AM