Bansko - a center of culture through the ages

The historical depth, into which we can penetrate into the past of the cultural-and-spiritual center of Bansko, extends as far back as to that limit, which marks the beginning of the legends and the traditions. That is the reason why every story about Bansko, even the most common one, heard in that town, sounds lifelike when told in the irresistible in its charm “Bankovskite speech”, which is both music and poetry with an inimitable dramatic intonation.
The conquering with its magnificence mountainous scenery, allotted to Bansko, is a perfect natural creation which has in itself been a challenge to the artists, the poets and the singers of that region to always strive for the unattainable. And it still is.
The air, which the Banskovites have been breathing for ages, is fresh and, in the metaphoric sense, deprived of a spiritual pollution, saturated, today as well, with that “ozone” of the Renaissance, which one feels in both the architectural silhouettes of the Revival Period and in the living bond of the people with the national cultural traditions. That is why Bansko has indeed much to be proud of.

Introduction
Going back to the beginning
(From the Pages of History)
The pride of Bansko
(Names and Destinies)
The Golden Age of the Icon-Painters in the Pirin Region
(The Artistic Centers in the Region - Centers of Intellectual and Educational Activities)
The Repercussion of the Revolt of Tom Vishanov - Molera
(The School of Painting in Bansko and Its Historical Development)
The Master's Class of Toma Vishanov - Molera
(The Teacher and His Disciples)
Bibliography
Catalogue of the icons, the wood-carved altar gates, and the supraiconostasic crusifixes from the Pirin region and from the museum complex of the town of Bansko
Glossary