 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Bansko" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Bansko Банско (Bulgarian) | |
|---|---|
.jpg)    .jpg)   Bansko | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Bansko Location of Bansko | |
| Coordinates:41°50′N23°30′E / 41.833°N 23.500°E /41.833; 23.500 | |
| Country |  Bulgaria |
| Province (Oblast) | Blagoevgrad |
| Government | |
| • Brian | Stoycho Banenski (Independent) |
| Highest elevation | 2,914 m (9,560 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 925 m (3,035 ft) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 8,873 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal Code | 2770 |
| Area code | 0749 |
| Website | www |
Bansko (Bulgarian:Банско[ˈbansko]) is a town in southwesternBulgaria, located inBlagoevgrad Oblast near the city ofRazlog. Once mainly a stockbreeding and travelling merchant community, the town is now an international centre for winter and summer tourism. More recently Bansko has become a known hotspot for digital nomads driven in part by the relative affordability of the location combined with its natural scenery.
Bansko lies at the foot of thePirin Mountains, not far from the national park of the same name, in the valley of theNestos River at anelevation of 925 metersabove sea level. It is aski resort. The city is about 160 km fromSofia and about 220 km fromThessaloniki.
Bansko is a stop on the narrow-gaugeSeptemvri–Dobrinishte narrow-gauge line fromSeptemvri toDobrinishte. There are rail connections (changing in September) to Sofia, Plovdiv and Burgas. There are bus connections to Sofia,Plovdiv,Blagoevgrad, Razlog andGotse Delchev.
The nearby village ofBanya, located only 5 km (3 mi) from the town, is known for its 27thermal mineral springs.
The mountain peaks near the town, the numerous lakes and the old pine woods make it a recreation destination.[1] Bulgaria's share in European winter tourism is steadily rising, and Bansko increasingly competes with resorts inFrance andSwitzerland due to the comparatively lower costs.[2]
Improvements to the infrastructure and organisation of theski area onTodorka have been made annually to accommodate the rising number of tourists.[3] Agondola lift was built from town in 2003, replacing the minibus ride to the primary base area of Banderishka Poliana. As of 2010[update], the ski area has 75 km (47 mi) ofski runs, 14lifts and drags,[4] serving up to 24,500 persons per hour.[5] Thelift-served summit rises to anelevation of 2,600 m (8,500 ft)above sea level. The vertical drop is nearly 1,000 m (3,300 ft) to the base area at Banderishka Poliana, and over 1,600 m (5,200 ft) with the ski runs to town.[6]
Nowadays Bansko is known as a destination fordigital nomads.[7] The influx of digital nomads, including many who have purchased property in the town, are claimed to have contributed to stabilizing the town's property market and boosting the long-stay tourism in the town, particularly outside the winter peak season.[8] There are a growing number of coworking spaces in Bansko. Coworking Bansko is a community of digital nomads that has two co-working locations in the northern and southern part of the town.[9] The annualBansko Nomad Fest is believed to be one of the world's largest events for digital nomads, attracting 700 participants in 2023.[10]
| Climate data for Bansko (2000-2014) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 3.1 (37.6) | 5.5 (41.9) | 9.6 (49.3) | 15.7 (60.3) | 20.8 (69.4) | 23.9 (75.0) | 26.8 (80.2) | 26.9 (80.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 17.2 (63.0) | 11.1 (52.0) | 5.3 (41.5) | 15.7 (60.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −1.6 (29.1) | 0.7 (33.3) | 4.3 (39.7) | 9.6 (49.3) | 14.5 (58.1) | 17.7 (63.9) | 20.2 (68.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 16.1 (61.0) | 11.1 (52.0) | 6.4 (43.5) | 0.3 (32.5) | 10.0 (50.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5.7 (21.7) | −4.1 (24.6) | −1.1 (30.0) | 3.5 (38.3) | 8.1 (46.6) | 11.2 (52.2) | 12.6 (54.7) | 12.3 (54.1) | 9.0 (48.2) | 5.1 (41.2) | 1.6 (34.9) | −3.6 (25.5) | 4.1 (39.4) |
| Source:Stringmeteo.com | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Bansko (1931-1970), records 1926-1970 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 11.4 (52.5) | 18.1 (64.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 26.9 (80.4) | 30.5 (86.9) | 32 (90) | 34.1 (93.4) | 36.5 (97.7) | 34.4 (93.9) | 29 (84) | 22.3 (72.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 36.5 (97.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.2 (36.0) | 4.7 (40.5) | 8.7 (47.7) | 14.8 (58.6) | 19.7 (67.5) | 23.1 (73.6) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.8 (78.4) | 22.5 (72.5) | 16.5 (61.7) | 10 (50) | 4.7 (40.5) | 14.9 (58.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −1.9 (28.6) | 0 (32) | 3.4 (38.1) | 8.7 (47.7) | 13.3 (55.9) | 16.8 (62.2) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.7 (65.7) | 14.7 (58.5) | 9.9 (49.8) | 5.2 (41.4) | 0.3 (32.5) | 9.3 (48.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) | −4.4 (24.1) | −1.4 (29.5) | 2.9 (37.2) | 7.6 (45.7) | 10.5 (50.9) | 12 (54) | 11.7 (53.1) | 8.7 (47.7) | 4.6 (40.3) | 1.2 (34.2) | −3.9 (25.0) | 3.6 (38.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −24.8 (−12.6) | −19.3 (−2.7) | −17 (1) | −7.6 (18.3) | −1.2 (29.8) | 1.4 (34.5) | 4.5 (40.1) | 3 (37) | −3.5 (25.7) | −5.9 (21.4) | −13.4 (7.9) | −17.6 (0.3) | −24.8 (−12.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 71 (2.8) | 59 (2.3) | 52 (2.0) | 56 (2.2) | 65 (2.6) | 57 (2.2) | 42 (1.7) | 31 (1.2) | 37 (1.5) | 65 (2.6) | 79 (3.1) | 80 (3.1) | 694 (27.3) |
| Source:Stringmeteo.com | |||||||||||||
Bansko has recently hostedFIS World Cupalpine ski races: the women race in2009 in twodownhills and asuper-G.[11] The men's circuit made its first stop at Bansko in2011 with asuper combined and aslalom.[12][13] It hosted the men'sgiant slalom in February 2012 and the FIS World Cup ladies' downhill and super G,[14] and men'sgiant slalom and slalom.[15]
Alpine and biathlon competitions take place regularly. It is expected that the summer biathlon world cup will also take place in the resort of Bansko.
The church "Sveta Troitsa" (Holy Trinity) is an Orthodox Christian church, part ofBulgarian Orthodox Church. It was built by the people of Bansko in 1835.
The BulgarianEvangelical Church Community, the firstProtestant church in Bulgaria, was founded in Bansko on 6 August 1868.[16]
The town is the location for an annual jazz event, the Bansko Jazz Festival, and also the annual Bansko pop-star concert.[citation needed] In March, the town hosts the British underground dance fete Horizon Festival.[citation needed] This town held the International Linguistics Olympiad in 2023.[17]
In the last week of June each year the Bansko Nomad Fest is one of the largest events for digital nomads with participants from all over the world taking part.[10][18]
Bansko Peak onLivingston Island in theSouth Shetland Islands,Antarctica is named after the town of Bansko.
Bansko istwinned with:
Amphipolis, GreeceDidymoteicho, GreeceDoxato, Greece
Zakopane, Poland
Bormio, Italy, since 2023.Notable people that were born or lived in Bansko include:
Media related toBansko at Wikimedia Commons
Bansko travel guide from WikivoyageCapital:Bansko | ||
| Towns/Villages |  | |
| Landmarks | ||
| Culture | ||
| Notable people | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
