Zhitnitsa (Bulgarian: Житница, "granary") is a village in central southern Bulgaria, part of Kaloyanovo Municipality, Plovdiv Province.

In any case, Zhitnitsa appears to have been founded no later than 1646, during the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, as a Turkish-owned farm.

The farm was manned and worked by Bulgarian Paulicians from Sopot and Kalabrovo, who settled in the vicinity and established the village.

According to an 18th-century report by papal missionary Nikola Radovani, the village had 54 houses inhabited by 341 Catholics, though an Eastern Orthodox population was also present.

The construction of the first Roman Catholic church in the village commenced in 1874 under Capuchin father Ernesto.