Bansko has long ago become famous for its rich and varied cultural and historical heritage that has played an important role for the establishment of the Bulgarian values and has left a distinguished trace in our overall growth as a state. The evidence for its active participation in the powerful upsurge of the nation during the National Revival is undoubted, but its history ismuch more ancient and its beginning is hidden somewhere back in centuries.
Information for the development of the region during earlier ages can be found in the archeological excavations and studies. More than 100 sites put on the archeological map of Bulgaria are registered in the region. One of them is Sitan Kale /Kalyata/ – a fortress inhabited yet by the Thracians that has reached its apogee during the ancient times and during the early Middle Ages and has existed until falling under Ottoman Yoke. This is where the local population gives its last resistance against the Ottoman invaders.
The following archeological sites have been fully studied across the territory of Bansko municipality: those in Shipotsko and St. Ivan locations. The archeological excavations continue in Karagonsko and St. Nikola locations.
It is understood that Bansko has been established as a settlement by the unification of several neighbourhoods. The first documentary evidence for Bansko is found in the Ottoman registers of cattle-drovers (dzelepkeshani) (sheep breeders) of 1576.
Until the 18th century, the inhabitants of Bansko are mainly stock farmers and craftsmen who rely on the vast pastures and rich forests. During the period of the National Revival, Bansko develops as an urban trade and crafts center. A lot of mills, sawmills, fulling-mills, tabakhanas for leather tanning, etc. are erected along the Glazne River. Its enterprising inhabitants maintain trade relations with settlements along the Aegean coast, from Central and Western Europe. Caravans with carpentry, leather and hardware goods start to the Aegean Sea region – in Serres and Drama, to carry back cotton, fish, tobacco, opium, olives, unprocessed and processed leathers. Trade offices of Bansko citizens open doors in a number of European cities – Budapest, Vienna, Leipzig, Marcelle, London. Many of the children of wealthy families study abroad.
