Zlata of Meglen

Saint Zlata of Meglen (, , ; died October 18, 1795) is an 18th-century Eastern Orthodox saint and new martyr.

Zlata was born in the eighteenth century in the village of Slatina, in the province of Meglen (today Chrysi, Greece), to a poor, peasant family with three other daughters. She died on October 18, 1796. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates her feast day on October 18; the Greek, the Russian, the Serbian and the Macedonian Orthodox churches - on October 13. Her hagiography was written by Nicodemus the Hagiorite. In Bulgaria and North Macedonia Saint Zlata is often depicted as young woman, wearing a traditional folk costume. In Bulgaria, Saint Zlata is patron saint of all Bulgarians living abroad.

Death There was a Turk who saw her while she was gathering wood in the village together with other women. He kidnapped her with the help of his Turkish friends. He then tried to forcefully convert her to Islam and make her marry him, promising her material wealth but the saint firmly rejected. For six months, the Turk and his wives tried to persuade her to marry him and after their unsuccessful attempts they threatened to her parents and sisters to convince her to Turkicize. When the kidnapper saw his schemes could not convince the saint, he locked her up in darkness for three months and started flagellating her every day, cutting her skin and putting an overheated rod through her ears. Her family, under the intimidation of the Turks, tried to dissuade her from suffering but she refused. In the midst of her deep tragedy, she called for her father's spiritual father Timotheus so that he prays for her to Jesus Christ. She was eventually hung on a tree by the Turks and cut to pieces. Her relics were collected by Christians in secret and she was buried. She died in the month of October 1795.

Churches There are several Macedonian churches which carry the name of Saint Zlata of Meglen. In Zagreb, the St. Zlata Meglenska's Church, Zagreb raised for the Macedonian community started being built in 2016 and was put in function and consecrated on 21 May 2023. In Werribee, Australia there is also a church named Zlata Meglenska for the Macedonian community which celebrated its 20th anniversary on 10 October 2017. In Greece, there is the Church of Saint Zlata of Meglen in Aridaia as the only Macedonian Orthodox Church in Greek Macedonia.