History of Bansko

  THE History of Bansko dates back to ancient times. As a clear evidence one can see the ruins of several fortresses from Antiquity, of Thracian burial mounds, medieval settlements and churches excavated in the vicinity. The first documentary proof of the town's existence comes from the middle of the 16th c. During the time of the National Revival (late 18th to the mid 19th c.), Bansko grew up to become a manufacturing, commercial, cultural, and spiritual center. Trade connections with the Aegean, Central and Western Europe were well established and caravans of pack-horses carried goods to the south and north, and east and west. All those contacts helped the early development of national self-consciousness in people. Bansko is the birth place of Paisiy Hilendarski - the author of Istoria Slavyanobalgarska (the first written history of Bulgaria), Neofit Rilski - the founder of secular education in Bulgaria and the first Bulgarian encyclopedist, Toma Vishanov (nicknamed Molera) - the founder of the Bansko School of Art, and many other prominent citizens who took part in the struggle for National Liberation from the Ottoman (Turkish) rule.
The spirit of Bansko's past comes down to us through the cen-turies. A number of fine Bulgarian orthodox shrines and the houses built in the traditional Bulgarian National Revival style create the unique atmosphere of Bansko. Outstanding among these are the two churches, the Metoh (Convent) affiliated to the Rilski Manastir (Rila Monastery), and the complexes of traditional old Bansko-style houses along the streets of Yane Sandanski, Velyan Ognev, Neofit Rilski (around the Sveta Troitsa Church), Gechkovata Razkrastitsa, Pirin, and Kiril i Metodiy, as well as the ensembles called Dzhidzhevite Kashti, Zlatevite Kashti, Koyuvite Kashti, Stefanovite Kashti, etc. (kashta means house in Bulgarian; kashti - houses). The Bansko-style house is built almost entirely of stone, with yards surrounded by high walls, with deep wine cel-lars and secret trap doors, small barred windows and solid front gates; each house has the appearance of an impregnable fortress standing along the narrow winding cobbled streets. Even today, one of the main economic activities of the local population is woodworking, furniture and wooden toys making. A great number of small privately owned carpentry workshops and woodcarvers' studios operate in the town as well.