Saint John the Russian

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The church of Saint John the Russian can be found at Prokopi and is dedicated to this saint. A vast number of worshipers flock here daily to visit the relic of Saint John the Russian. 

St. John was born in Russia in 1690. When in 1711 war broke out against Turkey, a soldier then, St. John was enslaved and taken back to his hometown of Prokopi in Asia Minor. Eventhough he was tortured constantly in order to change faith, his virtuous nature made his master sympathetic of him and allow him to be free to practice his faith. His tasks include caring for the animals which he did with lots of love. 

At the age of 40 he became sick and he died. His burial was on the 27th May in 1730 at which his master allowed the Christians to bury him in a Christian grave at the church of St. George. His body was then placed in a marble casket , which more than a century later was emptied and placed on an open fire along with logs by the Turkish soldiers of the Pasha Hatkeral Oglou Osman, after they had stolen all of the forays. 

The relic of St. John remained intact! This scared the turks who then put his body back in the casket. The miracles that occur in the casket that hold the saint’s relics become known all over the world, and thefaithful flock to behold him and be healed. A pilgrimage is built in central Cappadocia until the exchange of populations in 1924. At this time the Christian citizens of Prokopion in Asia Minor, took along the relic of St. John to their new home in Evia in October of 1924. In the year 1930, a grand temple was built to honor the Saint and was completed in 1951.

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