Feast of roses at the foot of M'Goun
Kelâat M'Gouna is a small Berber town chleuh, located east of Ouarzazate at the foot of the High Atlas
The oral legend says that the Rosa Damascena was brought back to the 10th century when a group of Berber pilgrims, returning from Mecca, was impressed by the beauty and the scent of this flower. They brought back some roses and replanted them in the region of Kelaat M'Gouna. Some seeds, fallen on the road, would have sprouted then flowered to give these beautiful roses that embellish, beautify and make now the fame of this part of the High Atlas, become the valley of the roses. It is in April and May, at dawn, that women are busy gathering precious petals. Nearly 1,000 tons will be harvested for distilling at the two factories in Kelaat M'Gouna and Souk-el-Khemis. The copper stills treat no less than 300 kg of petals bathed in 700 liters of boiling water. The water vapor dissolves the scented oils, which full of gasoline, passes through cooling tubes and lead the liquid to a tank, at the bottom of which drops the rose water while gasoline floats. It will be extracted and packaged in essential oil. The rose is appreciated for its perfume and its virtues in cosmetology, it is also part of the traditional pharmacopoeia.