Zlatolist is a small village nestled in the Sandansko-Petrich valley, 32 km from Sandanski. To reach the village, it passes through the village of Katuntsi. The path to Zlatolist is not recommended for low cars, as there are no asphalt in some places.
In the 18th - 19th century, the iron industry was developed in Zlatolist village, there was transported and processed and untreated iron. In 1891, Georgi Stresov (a teacher in Bitola and a law graduate in Geneva with a dissertation “Intership and the Balkans”) wrote about the village: "Dry Sushitsa, a village 1 hour away from Melnik. Built on hills on a gully. Many in this village are walking around with barrels for barrels and boxes sold in Melnik. The owl also becomes. The church "St. Georgi ", Greek. 40 houses bulgarian ".
Nowadays, there are 7-8 people living in Zlatolist village, but thousands of Bulgarian and foreign tourists visit it all year round and mostly during the warm months. The main landmark is the Church of St. George. The temple was built in 1857. It was painted in 1876 by Theophil Minov, who at that time was 11 years old. Frescoes are strange and unusual for a church. On one side is a naked woman and a cross with a crossbow. So far such a mural has never been found. On the other hand, a devil is seen, a man in a cart. There is also a depicted saint with a horse head.
In the middle below the dome is a marble slab with a double headed eagle, which is an emblem of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Thousands of tourists who visit the church take off their shoes and step on the slab because there is a belief that the stone emanates a power that heals the sick. Every one stepped on the stone looks into the icon of Jesus Christ for about thirty seconds and if the eyes of the Son of God are opened, then that person’s soul is purified. In fact, the original plate was stolen and replaced with a plain marble slab. But locals say it does not matter because it is not actually the cuticle but the place itself.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the prophetess Reverend Stoyna lived in the church. She was a nun. Local residents tell the prophetess that St. George himself brought her here. When she was seven years old, the Prophetsa fell ill with smallpox and she was blind. She claimed that while she was ill, St. George visited her and ordered her to go to the village of Zlatolist. After some time the native village of Reverend Stoina was burned down and she asked to take her to the village of Sushitsa (Goldman). When she came to the village and understood about the church of St. George, she decided to settle there and live as a nun. The place is not far from Rupite, which is an energy field. She started to help people. Grandma Maria and grandfather Stoyan claim that they have seen with their eyes how Reverend Stoya heals and heals people. Their stories are recorded in a living which is in the temple and every visitor can read. It is also rumored that in 1912 a Turkish aga came with an army to burn the temple, but Stoina told him immediately to come back that his children were severely ill. The stranger returned home, assured that he had not lied to him, and instead of fire, he came again with a gift to the nun. The prophetess was also visited by the bishop who gave her a silver cross. He told her she was more worthy to own it. The cross is preserved in the church today. The cleric of the temple argues that if it is released into boiling water and then someone drinks or is washed out of that water, it will no longer suffer from a headache.
When she came to pray in the temple, Reverend Stoyna stood on the marble slab in the middle of the church. Once, when a man came to pray, standing on the side and seeing that the Prophetsa did not touch the floor but was a meter above the ground. After finishing her prayer, she cried out to the man who had not yet, and asked to her death not to share with anyone what she had witnessed. Older people claim that Stoina often left her body and was dead for days. After she awoke, she told stories of wonder. She claimed she was walking around the cemetery alone and singing at night.
Reverend Stoina lived in a cellar room on the second floor of the church where the female part was. Today the room is preserved in the way the Prophetess left her. Inside is slippers. Every visitor leaves something to himself for health. The ceiling of her room is decorated with photographs. There is a belief that the one whose picture is placed there will enjoy enviable health. There is a book on the table in the room where every visitor writes his wishes.
If you walk around the courtyard of the church, see the couples in love swinging on a rope swing, tied to a century-old tree, do not be surprised. The jar is more than 1300 years old, and there is a belief that the pains of everyone standing by the crown of the tree disappear. And he who sits down and cocky at the cradle will heal from infertility.
Close to the tree is the tomb of Reverend Stoyna, where every believer gives her a homage. The seerwalker Vanga is the only heir of Reverend Stoyna.
When she came to pray in the temple, Reverend Stoyna stood on the marble slab in the middle of the church. Once, when a man came to pray, standing on the side and seeing that the Prophetsa did not touch the floor but was a meter above the ground. After finishing her prayer, she cried out to the man who had not yet, and asked to her death not to share with anyone what she had witnessed. Older people claim that Stoina often left her body and was dead for days. After she awoke, she told stories of wonder. She claimed she was walking around the cemetery alone and singing at night.
Reverend Stoina lived in a cellar room on the second floor of the church where the female part was. Today the room is preserved in the way the Prophetess left her. Inside is slippers. Every visitor leaves something to himself for health. The ceiling of her room is decorated with photographs. There is a belief that the one whose picture is placed there will enjoy enviable health. There is a book on the table in the room where every visitor writes his wishes.
If you walk around the courtyard of the church, see the couples in love swinging on a rope swing, tied to a century-old tree, do not be surprised. The jar is more than 1300 years old, and there is a belief that the pains of everyone standing by the crown of the tree disappear. And he who sits down and cocky at the cradle will heal from infertility.
Close to the tree is the tomb of Reverend Stoyna, where every believer gives her a homage. The seerwalker Vanga is the only heir of Reverend Stoyna. This happened immediately after Stoina’s death - around 1933. Throughout all the years Vangelia sends sick people to the grave of the woman whose follower she is. She adds that Stoina is three times stronger than her. For her own gift, the Reverend is categorical that it comes from St. George. One night she appeared to her and explained to her that she was her brother. Stoyna’s contemporaries tell that although blind, like Vanga, she was running up stairs, cleaning the church, and what else. They remember never eating meat. Every day she only fed lemons and oranges. A little bread was allowed once a week. It is known that she loved neither money nor gifts and told everyone that modesty is the greatest virtue. Unscognized healings, which were a trademark of the holy woman, continue to happen today in the church of Zlatolist village. Local people and guests from the country and abroad tell stunning things - some are healing, others are given messages from the future. Just on the last St. George’s Day, the temple of the people’s saint once again filled with people. All of them have drove to the second floor of the church where Stoyna’s lodge is located. There, the energy is so strong that man’s hair is on his head, wondering tourists. "My husband had health problems that could not work. Last year came and lit a candle. He decided to go into the room and heard a voice telling him, “Ivan, you are a good Ivan,” says the wife of a builder in Germany, and he thought he had something to say to him.When he got home, the man saw a strange scar on his shoulder which hurt him, as if an invisible hand operated it with a laser scalpel.
Along with this and other unexplained cases, the inhabitants of the Melnik region remember a prophecy of Vanga. In her life she prophesied that a century after Stoina’s death her spirit would come to heal and help the Bulgarians. Perhaps because of this, the ceiling of the room where the righteous lived was littered with pictures of sick people. It is believed that a leaf of desire or photography, squeezed between the wood paneling of the beam, brings health and luck.
Reverend Stoina may be just one name for many of us, but only stepped into the temple, we can sense the power of this place, and with a barest breath to look at the icons on the walls to draw strength from the unusual atmosphere. This temple is not like any other, so modest and at the same time mysterious, sheltering the requests and hopes of many people. It is as if she is attracted by the marble slab with the two-headed eagle lying in the middle of the temple below the dome. We sense the magical power of the Eagle of Constantinople, which is said to be charging us with a special bioenergy. On the slab is footless foot, with both legs and in the mind is called a desire.
Whether we will pray before the silver cross in the church given to the Reverend Stoina by the bishop to help people or write down their wishes in the book on the table in the room we will decide when we get there and feel the message of this incredible woman to be good and to help others. Reverend Stoyna has said that each person’s mission is to do good.
