The Holy New Martyr Kristo the Gardener of Albania
Life
Saint Kristo the Gardener was an Albanian Orthodox layman martyred at Constantinople in 1748 during the Ottoman rule of the Balkans. A gardener and apple-seller by trade, he was condemned on the false accusation that he had declared an intention to convert to Islam, and was beheaded after refusing to abandon the Orthodox faith. He is venerated as a New Martyr (neo-martyr) of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
According to the sources, Kristo worked tending a vegetable garden and, at the age of forty, traveled to Constantinople in search of better business opportunities; some accounts place him in the Sultan's garden in 1748. His martyrdom was witnessed and recorded by the monk and writer Kaisarios Dapontes, who was present at the time, and through whose account the details of the saint's confession have been preserved.
Timeline 4 moments
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1748Arrival in ConstantinopleAt about the age of forty, Kristo traveled from his homeland to Constantinople seeking better business as a gardener and merchant; some accounts say he worked in the Sultan's garden.
1748The disputed sale and false accusationWhile negotiating the sale of apples with a Muslim customer, the two could not agree on a price. The angered customer falsely accused Kristo of having declared a wish to convert to Islam and brought him before the authorities.
1748Trial, imprisonment and tortureAt the Islamic court, false witnesses testified that Kristo had stated his intention to convert, while his own testimony as a Christian carried no legal weight against Muslim witnesses. He was flogged, struck on the head, fettered in stocks, and held in prison; one account reports an imprisonment of two years.
February 12, 1748Martyrdom by beheadingRefusing to renounce Orthodoxy, Kristo was sentenced to death for apostasy and beheaded at Constantinople on February 12, 1748.
Contributions & Legacy
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The accusation and trial
The sources agree that Kristo's condemnation arose from a commercial dispute rather than any religious act of his own. While he was selling apples, a disagreement over the price with a Turkish customer led the customer, acting maliciously, to charge that Kristo had expressed a desire to embrace Islam.
Under Ottoman judicial practice the testimony of Muslim witnesses outweighed that of a Christian defendant. The sources record that false witnesses were produced to support the charge and that Kristo's denial was discounted because he was a Christian. He is reported to have answered the allegation by declaring that he was a Christian, had never said any such thing, and could not abandon his Orthodox faith though he should suffer a thousand evils.
Imprisonment and confession
Following his condemnation Kristo was beaten, struck on the head so as to bleed heavily, and imprisoned with stocks fastened around his feet. The monk and author Kaisarios Dapontes, himself held in custody at the time, was present and documented the martyrdom; he loosed Kristo from the stocks and offered him food.
Kristo refused to eat, saying, according to the sources, that he did not expect to live and might as well die hungering and thirsting for Christ. He gave Dapontes a metal file, asking that it be sold or offered to the Church so the proceeds might fund memorial services and commemorative liturgies for him after his death.
Veneration
Kristo is numbered among the New Martyrs who suffered under Ottoman rule and is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on February 12. Sources identify him as canonized as a neo-martyr of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Several accounts associate his origin with the town of Permet in Albania.
