Bansko is the native place of well known personalities in Bulgarian history, a popular tourist center and a starting point for outings in the pirin mountains. The town flourished as a trade and crafts center during the National Revival Perod (18th-19th c.), when the Bansko merchants traded between the Aegean and Central Europe. During that time Bansko also established itself as a center of culture and enlightment. The town is the birth place of these great figures of our history: Paisii of Hilendar, author of the famous Slav-Bulgarian History (1762), Neofit Rilski - the celbrated man of letters and enlightment, Toma Vishanov-Molera - the founder of the Bansko School of Painting.

In fact the Bansko School of Painting was one of the best ones in the Bulgarian lands during the 18th-19th c. The Bansko artists who worked along the Mesta and Struma river valleys, broke the established canons and introduced secular and historic themes to church painting, besides also painting portraits, The iconostasis in the Holy Trinity Church in the town center are a fine example of this art.

Other landmarks include the House of Neofit Rilski, as well as the Sirleshova, Boianova, and Velianova Houses - all typical of the local building tradition of the 19th century, now architectural monuments. Also, the monument of the grat Bulgarian National Revival Figure Paisii of Hilendar is most impressive.

The collection of icons painted by Bansko masters is sertainly worth visting. Teh church of the Holy Trinity built in 1835 is the largest and richest in mural paintings in the Pirin mountains region. The belfry and clock tower is the simbol and pride of Bansko. The town will strive to preseve the amazing presence of spirituality and try to combine it with the fast growing modernization of its infrastructure. Such combination will make Bansko an even more attractive place to visit or live in. [1]

The archeological traces of the inhabitants of Bansko and the Razlog Valley in general date to the early periods of the Roman Empire. There are several housing structures at the outskirts of the town, which date to 100 BC. However, there is no consensus nor credible theory on who these people were.

The Bulgarian Evangelical Church Community, the first Protestant church in Bulgaria, was founded in Bansko on 6 August 1868.

Until 5 October 1912, Baniçka (Bansko's former name) was a part of the Ottoman Empire, but enjoyed a quasi self-rule autonomy granted by the sultan. The town was ruled by an assembly of the elders, while justice was administered by the Ottoman judge in Razlog. It was incorporated in Bulgaria in 1912 as a result of the First Balkan War. [2]

[1] Original article at: http://www.geocities.com/bansko_travel/html/history.html

[2] History Facts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia