The Valley of Roses in the rose picking season

Bulgaria is famous far abroad for its yoghurt and oil-producing rose. The rose has become the country’s logo. A glance at a travel guide for Bulgaria will leave little doubt about that. Revealing sandy beaches and green mountains, guides will take you into a land of beautiful young ladies in traditional costumes embellished with rose wreathes, filling rose-bursting baskets on a spring morning. This tourist cliché, however, gives a very brief idea of all the attractions you can see in the Valley of Roses during the rose-picking season.

Sandwiched between the smooth slopes of Sredna Gora and the awesome crags of the Balkan Range, the Valley of Roses is the prefect place for growing the oil-producing rose, aka rosa damascene. Bulgarian rose drops are used for the production of some of the world’s most renowned perfume brands. A kilogram of Bulgarian rose oil costs 4000-5000 euro on the international markets. No wonder then that the production of the so-called “liquid gold” has become a profitable business for the local people, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Late May and early June are usually the peak seasons in the Valley of Roses. The vast rose crops are bursting with violet nuances, bringing joy to the eye. For the people from the municipalities of Kazanlak, Pavel Banya and Kalofer, these months are the hardest period of the year. It is then that rose picking begins. From early dawn rose pickers from nearby villages and curious tourists throng to the rose fields. The rose picking itself is a ritual, which has changed very little in the last 200 years. The best time for rose picking is from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., or before the sun rays can evaporate the rose oil contained in petals. If you happen to be in the area on a June morning, rest assured you will not regret it. Perhaps, you will be given a nylon bag or a basket, and will be invited to dip into the sweet-scented sea of roses waving in the wind and to pick some for yourselves. Each petal should be picked off carefully, just under the rose bud, seasoned rose pickers would tell you. Usually, the rose-picking is accompanied by songs and dances. The production is loaded on trucks and is transported to rose distilleries where the extraction of the “liquid gold” begins. At this time of the year, a lot of rose distilleries work at full speed. The territory of Pavel Bania has got over 500 hectares of rose crops and 9 rose distilleries. One of them is located in the village of Turnichene.

“What is interesting in our rose distillery is that you can follow live the production of rose oil”, explains owner of the distillery Dimitar Lissicharov. We’ve got a museum and a colleague who shows tourists around, introducing them to the entire technological process. We’ve got 120 hectares of organic rose and lavender crops. During the rose picking season we take tourists to the fields to join the picking. After that, we put the rose petals in old tanks and demonstrate some old boiling practices”, Mr Lissicharov says.

The culmination of the rose picking season comes in early June, when each municipality organizes a festival of roses saturated with folklore events, singing, old traditions reconstructions, the Queen of Roses pageants, etc. This year the traditional holiday of the rose and the mineral water in Pavel Bania opened 9 June with a mummers’ procession and a traditional carnival with the participation of Bulgarian and foreign participants. Perhaps, many visitors will visit the Damascena Ethnographic Museum attractive for its small rose distillery, an adjacent museum, a cozy tavern, and a magnificent rose garden, where you can take a rest in the shadow of rose shrubs, inhaling the divine-scented air. ”Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, Germans- the foreigners are deeply impressed by our roses!, says inspiringly Grigor Yordanov, a technologist at the complex. Here is more from him:

“The complex has become popular not only in Europe, but also in Asia and South Africa. We’ve got a lot of visits. Last year, more than 15000 foreign tourists visited us. We’ve got 67 kinds of decorative roses. After 5 or 6 May everything is in blossom, filling the air with delicate fragrance. Except for rose oil and rose water, we produce rose honey, liquor and rakia. Foreigners come here to taste our products. We’ve got a stall that sells them”, says Mr Yordanov.

Except for the fragrance of Bulgarian roses, the valley attracts travelers with its pristine nature and magnetic landscape saturated with the tints of Spring. One can also take a walk along the Tunja River, or the banks of Koprinka Dam. A spa vacation in Pavel Banya , trekking, as well as bicycle touring in the Balkan Range are also among the things you can do in this part of Bulgaria. Many of the towns and villages in the region offer wonderful guest houses or small family hotels where the locals will welcome you with heart-warming smiles and delicious home-made food. Most of the houses have a yard with domesticated animals and organic vegetables, an open swimming pool and a tavern. The Valley of Roses is expecting you!

English version: Vyara Popova

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The Valley of Roses in the rose picking season

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