Geography
Bansko is a city in Southwestern Bulgaria. It is located in the Blagoevgrad district, near Razlog, and is the administrative center of the Bansko municipality. In the 19th century, it was the center of Bulgaria in Pirin Macedonia on a territory bordering Greek and Turkish populations. The Bulgarian folk revivalists Neofit Rilski and Paisiy Hilendarski, as well as the poet Nikola Vaptsarov, were born in Bansko. Today the city is a famous winter resort.
Bansko is located at the foot of the Northern Pirin at 927 m above sea level. It is 56 km from Blagoevgrad, 145 km from Plovdiv and 150 km from Sofia. The Pirin National Park begins near the city. The Glazne River flows through Bansko. The climate is mountainous and allows the retention of the snow cover from December to April, and the alpine nature of Pirin Mountain provides excellent conditions for professional and amateur skiing. There is a railway station on the Septemvri – Dobrinishte narrow gauge railway. There are mineral waters southwest of the city.
History
Around 1850, the Bulgarian municipality of Ban was founded – an organization of local Bulgarian self-government, as a continuation of the all-village public council formed in 1833 headed by Lazar German to provide funds, materials and labor for the construction and dedication of the church “Holy Trinity”, consecrated in 1835. The management of the municipality includes influential representatives of the commercial and artisan class. In the 60s and 70s of the 19th century, the municipality led the fight against the Greek church authorities for the independence of the Bulgarian church and for the development of educational work in the village. On her initiative, a new school building was built in 1857, the mutual school was rebuilt into a classroom, revival newspapers and literature were distributed. The municipality organized the construction of the bell tower of the “Holy Trinity” church in 1850 and the installation of a clock mechanism in 1865.
