The culture of the population from the villages in the Podgorie (Belasitsa Mountain foothills) is sharing many of the traditions of the region of Petrich and Sandanski. The imigration of Bulgarian families from the villages in the Aegean in the 1920s left a memorable mark on the local forms of material and spiritual culture.
Typical means of living for the region were the agriculture and stock-breeding, some woodworking crafts, growing of flax and hemp as a textile raw material and silkworm-breeding as additional, but widely-covered means of living.
The silkworm-breeding started to progress a lot in the1940s. People got 20-25 cocoons from a single box of silkworm seed. They themselves used to spin the silk threads using a traditional technique (a silk thread was 1000-1500 cm long). The traditional practice in silk- spinning includes the following: people pour the cocoons with boiling water, after that using a small broom they get as many threads as needed to form a string and start to roll it up on the rod. In the more Modern times, they give the cocoons to silk factories for further treatment.
Honey production has been preserved in the area until nowadays thanks to its healing powers. In the past, people used simple beehives made of willow twigs and plastered up with beef manure from the inside and outside. They also used to put rye sheaves called “vik” on the hives to protect them from cold, heat and moisture.
The chestnut honey is one of the most unique products in Belasitsa. It’s a liquid consistency with slightly bitter taste, dark colour and has the aroma of a chestnut blossom. The honey crystalizes slowly, as initially it looks like butter but then it turns into coarse crystals. It’s recommended against ventricular and kidney diseases. It lowers the blood circulation in the liver.