Korteza of Sliven
In an old group photograph, Korteza stands among several men, holding an icon. Her name is less familiar today, but this woman from Sliven travelled, attracted visitors and entered the recollections of people around Peter Deunov in the early twentieth century. Her story leads to Aytos, physician Georgi Mirkovich and a spring near Momchilovtsi.
- Known as
- Korteza, the clairvoyant of Sliven
- Recollections
- Izgrevat, volume 10
- Historical setting
- Early twentieth century
The woman from Sliven
References name her as Korteza Stefanova or Konstantina Stefanova. Information about her birth year and family life is scarce. Sliven is the city consistently associated with her.
There her story intersects with Dr Georgi Mirkovich, a physician interested in spiritualism. Later publications disagree about whether she worked in his household. The surviving polemical text The Vestal of the Holy Virgin rejects the claim that she was his servant.
Source: 1333.bg: Korteza (Konstantina Stefanova) · The Vestal of the Holy Virgin, part IV
The journey to the spring at Momchilovtsi
A local account published by BGvesti links Korteza to the discovery of the spring near Momchilovtsi. It says she arrived on horseback via Rozhen and indicated where people should dig. The spring became a pilgrimage site, with a chapel built beside it.
The article also describes a group photograph with the residents who welcomed her, dated there to 1910. The story of the water is still told in the village. Its attributed healing properties belong to local belief.
Source: BGvesti: the spring and memories of Korteza in Momchilovtsi
Visitors in Aytos
Volume ten of Izgrevat devotes a chapter to Korteza in Aytos. The recollection covers the period from 1910 to 1912. People approached her with personal questions and hopes of learning something about their loved ones.
The narrator believed she could communicate with the dead. His recollection also conveys the atmosphere of those encounters: trust in the clairvoyant, religious expectations and intense personal experiences. It is a participant’s testimony preserved in a memoir.
Her name in Deunov’s talks
Korteza also appears in Peter Deunov’s talks, in stories about spiritual life. This helps explain why his followers’ literature preserves her name even where a detailed personal biography is missing.
Source: Peter Deunov: Bears Much Fruit · Galina Goncharova: male clairvoyance and the occult revival
Predictions and accounts with traceable sources
Korteza and the holy spring in Momchilovtsi
A local St George’s Day report recounts Korteza’s visit and her identification of water near the village. The story survives alongside veneration of the holy spring.
- Where and when it was recorded
- A report dated 6 May 2015 about an earlier event.
- What can be established
- The report documents local tradition and the celebration. It does not provide a record contemporary with the visit establishing exactly how the water was found.
Recordings, photographs and reading
- PhotographsThe group photograph featuring Korteza
- PhotographsSt George’s Day and the holy spring in Momchilovtsi, 6 May 2015
Local report recounting Korteza’s visit, with photographs of the celebration.
Sources and further reading
- 1333.bg: Korteza (Konstantina Stefanova)
Popular secondary reference; names and dates are not corroborated by civil records.
- Izgrevat, volume 10: Korteza in Aytos
Chapter 35; recollection concerning 1910-1912. PDF.
- The Vestal of the Holy Virgin, part IV
Digital republication of a polemical text; conflicting accounts of the relationship with Dr Mirkovich.
- Peter Deunov: Bears Much Fruit
Talk and editorial notes; a primary spiritual text.
- Galina Goncharova: male clairvoyance and the occult revival
Academic study of the historical context in Seminar_BG.
- BGvesti: the spring and memories of Korteza in Momchilovtsi
Local account of the visit and archival photograph.
Painted portrait
