Miraculous icon at Saint Petka Church in Crniche draws worshippers with reported healings
A buried icon discovered by Fanica Nancheva became the centrepiece of a 1923 Skopje church and is credited with reported healings.
The Church of Saint Petka in the Crniche quarter of Skopje houses an icon traditionally regarded as miraculous, attracting believers with a long local history of strange signs and reported healings.
From a buried icon to a consecrated church
The site where the church stands was chosen after locals found a buried icon and decided to raise a sanctuary in its honor. The cornerstone was laid in 1904, a small chapel was first built in 1908, and the present, larger church was completed and consecrated on 3 September 1923 by the then-Skopje Metropolitan Varnava.
Built in a developed Byzantine trikonchos form, the building features a central octagonal dome supported by massive pilasters and an additional dome above the narthex. The interior preserves the work of master iconographer Dimitar Papradishki, whose frescoes and icon-painting are considered among the finest of his time.
The 1963 earthquake damaged the structure; afterward the church was enlarged with chapels dedicated to Saints Constantine and Helena and to Saint Nedela, and a tall four-storey bell tower was erected in the churchyard.
The miracle icon now venerated in the church is associated with Fanica Nancheva (born 1915). According to accounts passed down locally, she discovered a forgotten wooden icon in the basement of an apartment where a priest had once lived. At the time she was 26 years old and took the icon into her room, placing it among her other religious images.
Witnesses describe several unusual phenomena linked to the icon: night-time sounds, the falling of a silver coin from the painting and, most famously, tears appearing to flow from the eyes of the Mother of God; one report even records that those tears were collected in a dish. Over the decades believers have attributed cures to the icon, including recovery of sick children and answered prayers for couples who had been unable to have children.
On the advice of the parish priest, Fanica Nancheva handed the icon over to Saint Petka Church, where it remains on display and continues to be a focal point of veneration for worshippers who come seeking protection from illness and misfortune.
Photo: Vikipedija, Javna sopstvenost
