STATUE DE SAINT GEORGES DE KRATOVO

This recent and not very beautiful statue (Свети Георгиј Кратовски Споменик) pays tribute to a local saint who is much less well known than Mother Teresa or St. Clement of Ohrid. It is George of Kratovo, a goldsmith of the city burned alive by the Ottomans in 1515, in Sofia, for refusing to convert to Islam. It is celebrated by the Macedonian, Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox on February 11 and May 26. A church erected in 1925 bears his name near the modern bridge west of the city center.