Damask rose

Bulgarian rose oil from the Rose Valley is “liquid gold” – a single kilogram takes about 3 tonnes of hand-picked petals.

A shrub growing to 2 m, with prickly stems and pinnate leaves. Once a year, at the turn of May and June, it is covered in double, pink, intensely fragrant flowers. The petals are picked by hand at dawn, when they hold the most oil, and then steam-distilled to obtain rose oil and rosewater. The damask rose is an ancient hybrid of several wild rose species, bred in the Middle East; it reached the Balkans in Ottoman times.

Significance in the country

Bulgaria is one of the world’s two largest producers of rose oil, used in the most expensive perfumes. Since 1903 Kazanlak has held the Rose Festival in early June, with the choosing of a Rose Queen, and rose cosmetics are the most popular souvenir from Bulgaria.

Where it grows

Grown in the Rose Valley at the foot of the Balkan Mountains – between Kazanlak (Stara Zagora Province) and Karlovo (Plovdiv Province) – and around Strelcha in Pazardzhik Province.

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