In Bulgaria
there is a valley, tucked away between the Balkan Range and the Sredna
Gora Mountains, where hundreds of thousands of roses are in bloom
in May and June. If you should visit it at this time of the year,
you will be able to attend a beautiful festival in the Bulgarians'
working calendar - the rose-picking season.
The
trip will also acquaint you with the National Revival past of the
picturesque Balkan small towns of Sopot, Karlovo and Kalofer and Kazanluk,
with the Museum of the Rose and the Kazanluk Tomb, a unique monument
of Hellenic times, included in the List of World Heritage.
To the foreign observer the unusual rites and symbols
become part of the image of the Bulgarian,of his traditions. Roses
and the care for them are history, economy, customs and rites, symbol
and glory.
rose-pickers
DID YOU KNOW THAT:
Eighty per cent of
the world`s attar of roses is obtained in the Valley of Roses
Three and half tons
of rose petals go into the making of one kilogram of attar of roses
which has the price of gold
The Bulgarian attar
of roses is used as an important component in the perfumery business
throughout the world
Kazanluk boasts the
Balkan`s only scientific research institute of the rose where over
1500 types of roses from all parts of the world have been gathered.
