Paraskeva of the Balkans was an 11th-century Christian nun and ascetic who lived in the Byzantine Empire. Born to wealthy landowners near Constantinople, she renounced her riches to pursue a religious life, traveling through Asia Minor and eventually settling in a desert convent near the Jordan River. Following a divine instruction to return to her homeland, she spent her final years in Kallikrateia, where she died at the age of 27. Known as a wonderworker, she is highly venerated in both Orthodox and Catholic traditions.