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BULGARIA AS IT IS!
Rose picking brings people into the Rose Valley’s gardens. Harvesting oil-bearing roses and distilling them are both work and local tradition, also presented during the Rose Festival.
In the Rose Valley, oil-bearing roses are picked by hand during flowering. Their petals are used to produce rose water and rose oil. Rose picking is primarily seasonal work, passed between generations as knowledge and a livelihood.
Picking is followed by distillation: processing rose blossoms in special vessels. The Rose Museum in Kazanlak, part of the Iskra Historical Museum, preserves objects and records of rose production. Garden work therefore also has a documentary memory.
Kazanlak’s Rose Festival demonstrates picking and distillation to visitors in several villages. Festive reenactments make local tradition visible, while growers’ seasonal work continues beyond the festival programme. Both belong to the story of the Rose Valley.
Historical information, local examples and current practices were checked against these publications.
Created with ImageGen for СБОРЪ.БГ. An artistic interpretation of the custom, rather than a documentary photograph.