Petkovden - We Honor St Paraskeva (Petka) of Tarnovo

St Paraskeva (Petka) is one of the great Bulgarian saints and she is associated with a lot of miracles and beliefs. Even though she is a Bulgarian saint she is honored not only in Bulgaria but also in Greece, Serbia and Romania. She lived in X-XI century and Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo himself wrote about her life and postmortem miracles. From 1238 till the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman Rule her holy relics rested in the Church of St Petka of Turnovo in Veliko Turnovo. After centuries of them being moved around, in 1641 they were laid in the cathedral in Iasi (northern Romania) and today they are visited by pilgrims from all over the world.

St Paraskeva (Petka) is an advocate of those in trouble, and a port for those exposed to storm. This is also one of the great folk holidays with which Bulgarians mark the end of the warm weather and the coming of winter.

In Sofia there is a mediaeval church from the 13th century which was part of the residence of Sebastokrator Kaloyan, but was destroyed during the Ottoman invasion. In 1578 the temple was rebuilt. Today it is part of the building of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia and has entrances on two streets – Saborna Street and Tsar Kaloyan Street.

On this date Petko, Petka, Petkan, Petra, Petrichka, Petkana, Penko. Penka, Paraskev, Parasceva, etc. celebrate their name day.