The Village of Banya: Paved with Mineral Water

Hilmi Anıl Sezer
Sep 5, 2017
3 min read

LOCATION

The village of Banya is located in the south-west of Bulgaria, in a valley between the three big mountains Rila, Pirin and the Rhodopes. It is 156 km away from the capital Sofia and only 6 km from Bansko ski resort and the town of Razlog. We have gone to hitchhike from Razlog to Banya. That was so funny. :)

TURKISH BATH

Before we have gone to Banya Village, the sole information we knew was that there is a Turkish Bath. Therefore, when we entered the village, our first target was to see the bath smelling history. It is not too hard to predict that this structure will be a Turkish Bath when someone who has knowledge about the Ottoman architectural structures is looking at from a distance. The sound of the flowing water from inside was quite fascinating as while we were approaching the bath, as if a sound came from the history... We had to buy tickets to get into this small but magnificent building. When we got inside we realized something interesting. There were two doors. According to the belief of the Turks, a person was entering with the left foot and from the left door and s/he was leaving with the right foot and from the right door.

When we came inside, the sound from the history began to resonate more intensely. We learned that the flowing water is mineral hot water called Blagata Voda. It is believed that it has been built in the 17th century due to the similar architecture with the Old Bulgarian bath. It is believed that there is a legend about the Turkish bath. It says that in Banya lived a wealthy Turkish family. (Murtazovi). In their honor, it was called “Murtina” bath. The Turkish bath was used till the 50s of the 20th century and after its restoration in 2012, every tourist can feel the authentic atmosphere of the bath, visiting the richest of mineral springs village – Banya.

OLD BULGARIAN BATH

Our second target was to see another bath smelling history. A great image of the town of Banya, protected through the history, is the mineral bath, called as Old Bulgarian (Roman) Bath. It is built in characteristic Roman style.

The Roman bath has a particular construction. The bath has a hypocaust warming system. The walls have worked in walls channels through which high temp water ran. Thus it extra warmed the bath, thanks to these lines, it guarantees comfortable environment notwithstanding among the frosty winter days. Through it passed the hot (54 degrees centigrade) and the cold water, so it was mixing to make the ideal temperature for bathing. Prior to the expansion of the bath was worked in 1907 no one was in charge of the cleanliness in it. The pool is planned in the context of self-clean with water streaming out of it was cleaned the rest room. The water streamed out of the troughs cleaned the space around the pool.

Many Roman coins found at the catchment of the waters near the old Bulgarian (Roman) bath. That is a proof that even in the ancient times, Banya was known for the healing waters.

LIFESTYLE in BANYA

At the first glance, it can be considered that Banya have lost its naturalness because of touristic attraction. However, we saw that it is not like this. When we arrive the village, the first thing that attacts our attention is that local people wash their dishes and clothes in fountains on the street because you can find fountains flowing natural hot mineral water everywhere in Banya. Also, almost every people grow their own vegetables and fruits in the gardens. As you can see in the attached photos, an old woman prepares for the winter from the products she produced. By the way, local people prepare their firewoods from August in order to warm up in winter. It is interesting that people commonly use horse carts for their transportation and other works.

We saw that Banya is the place where traditional food culture is most reflected. We tried Beans Soup, Shoop Style Chicken, Lutenitsa and Rakia. If you go to Bulgaria, especially Banya, you should absolutely try all of these.

You will never regret, please trust us! :)

TOURISM

Banya is not a typical traditional village. At same time, Banya is an important touristic place on both winter and summer. There are plenty of spa and wellness resort, hotels,, pools and other touristic facilities. In addition, its closeness to Bansko is the reason Banya to be preferred by the ski lovers. At the same time, it preserves its traditional village style and is perfect not only for winter but for summer tourism, too. In our opinion, this small village embraces many cultures, so Banya is available place to development for cultural tourism.