BANSKO – THE OLD TOWN

The brisk craft and trade activity gradually makes it an economic center, and due to the economic strengthening and growth of Bansko citizens during the National Revival and their trips to the developed countries in Western Europe, Bansko quickly develops as a settlement of urban appearance and becomes one of the most important centers in Northeastern Macedonia.

As a real proof of the wealth of the well-to-do trade families, the interesting ancient houses – fortresses of Bansko, equipped to ensure the security and active defence of their owners, exist even nowadays. They are distinguished from the widely spread types of Bulgarian mountain house due to their complex interior outlay, the availability of service rooms, secret corridors and hiding places, due to their stone structure. The most typical feature of the fortified Bansko house is the presence of a stone residential core adapted for temporary accommodation and defence. The walls of the house are solid made of stone, and the external walls are up to 1.20m thick. Openings, called “firing halls” are made in these walls intended for shooting in case of attack. The doors are low, stable, made of white fir wood, and with iron sheet ferrel.

The porch is wide, surrounded by beautifully designed parmaks (railing elements) and skillfully indented wooden columns. A wooden sink resting on slanted beams overhangs above the yard opposite to the “kashchi” door. From the porch one can go to the “hut”. The hut can be seen only in the Bansko house and represents an open board terrace leaning to the yard and connecting the management buildings with the residential rooms. Bansko houses in the style of the National Revival are surrounded and fortified from the outside by high stone walls and white fir gates. The original residential construction in Bansko cannot be seen in the surrounding settlements across the Razlog valley. It is due not only to the increased material abilities of the citizens of Bansko, but also to their higher spiritual culture.