Bulgaria - The Land of Roses

Bulgaria - the land of roses

One of the symbols of my country is the rose or perhaps it is the most significant. Bulgaria is among the main producers of rose oil worldwide. The country got long tradition of cultivating the oil-bearing roses and mainly Rosa Damascena. Other oil-bearing sorts that also grow in my country are White oil-bearing rose (Rosa alba) and Stambolska oil-bearing rose (Rosa gallica).

South from the Balkan Mountain is located the Rose valley. It is sheltered from the north winds and the soil is favourable for growing oil-bearing roses. Mild winter and spring showers also help roses to grow and to produce the precious oil.

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May-June is the time of the year when the rose petals are picked. The should be picked manually very early in the morning. Usually picking starts at 4 o'clock in the morning and ends about 10 o'clock.

To produce 1 milligram pure rose oil, you will need about 50 000 petals or around 1500 flowers. Or in other words 1 milligram rose oil is produced from 3,5 kg of petals.

Rose oil is undisputable ingredient of many fine perfumes. It is also used in the cosmetic industry and in medicine. Rose jam is made of the petals.

The benefits of the precious rose oil were known from ancient times. Nowadays it is considered as valuable as the gold. It is even called the liquid gold.

But it is not only the oil, as there are other by-products also imposrtant for the rose industry

Rose Oil and Rose Oil By-Products
Rose Oil
Rose oil is extracted from rose blossoms of Rosa Damascena through water distillation. Its fragrance is extremely potent.
Rose Concrete
Rose concrete is obtained from the fresh flowers of the Bulgarian oil-bearing rose (Rosa damascena) through petroleum-ether extraction.
Rose Absolute
Rose absolute is extracted from rose concrete. It is a red liquid mainly used in perfumery.
Natural Rose Water
Rose water is a by-product obtained during the distillation process of attar of roses, this is why it contains 0.04 up to 0.05 per cent of pure rose oil.
Rose water concentrate is a by-product of rose oil distillation containing 0.08 per cent of the precious essence.
Customers might not be aware of the fact that ROSE WATER is the best natural cosmetic product for cleaning and refreshing the skin. Rose water is also used inFragrant Rose Water Wet Wipes.
Natural Rose Essence
Rose essence is the "progenitor's genome" of any top perfume. It has no other fragrances. The aroma is unique - one of roses. Genuine roses. For it contains natural rose oil.

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Each year a Festival of Roses is held in the Rose Valley towns including folklore dances, parades, rose picking ritual and the culmination is coronation of the Rose Queen.

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Recently I read an article where characters from Game of Thrones were matched with European contries. Bulgaria was related with Loras Tyrell, because their house sigil is golden rose and Bulgaria is called the land of roses.

There is so much to be said about the process of distillery and the history of the rose oil production.
I was thrilled to learn more about that treasure preparing the post today.

For me roses will remain my favourite flowers. So here is one Bulgarian rose for you my friend.