The Rose Valley is a region in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 located just south of the Balkan Mountains

Balkan Mountains

The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...

 and the eastern part of the lower Sredna Gora

Sredna Gora

Sredna Gora is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to Balkan mountain range and extending from the river Iskar to the west and the elbow of Tundzha north of Yambol to the east. Sredna Gora is 285 km long, reaching 50 km at its greatest width...

 chain to the south. Geologically, it consists of two river valleys, those of the Stryama

Stryama

The Stryama is a river in southern Bulgaria, an important left tributary of the Maritsa. The river is 110.1 km long and has a drainage basin of 2,853 km²....

 to the west and the Tundzha

Tundzha

The Tundzha is a river in Bulgaria and Turkey and the most significant tributary of the Maritsa, emptying into it on Turkish territory near Edirne....

 to the east.

The valley is famous for it's rose

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

-growing industry which have been cultivated there for centuries, and which produces 85% of the world's rose oil

Rose oil

Rose oil, meaning either rose otto or rose absolute, is the essential oil extracted from the petals of various types of rose...

. The centre of the rose oil industry is Kazanlak

Kazanlak

Kazanlak, formerly Kazanlık is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the Rose Valley...

, while other towns of importance include Karlovo

Karlovo

Karlovo is a picturesque and a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains...

, Sopot

Sopot, Bulgaria

Sopot is a Bulgarian town situated in the fertile sub-Balkan mountain valley of Karlovo , immediately below the steep southern slopes of the Troyan Balkan Mountain...

, Kalofer

Kalofer

Kalofer is a town in central Bulgaria, located on the banks of the Tundzha between the Balkan Mountains to the north and the Sredna Gora to the south. Kalofer is part of Plovdiv Province and the Karlovo municipality...

 and Pavel banya

Pavel Banya

Pavel Banya is a small town in Stara Zagora Province, South-central Bulgaria, located between the towns of Kalofer and Kazanlak. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pavel Banya Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 2,918 inhabitants...

. Each year, festivals are held celebrating roses and rose oil.

The picking season lasts from May to June. During this period, the area gives off a pleasant scent and is covered with multi-coloured flowers. The gathering process, traditionally a woman's task, requires great dexterity and patience. The flowers are carefully cut one by one and laid in willow-baskets which are then sent to the distilleries.

Honour

Rose Valley Glacier

Rose Valley Glacier

Rose Valley Glacier is a glacier on Varna Peninsula, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica extending 5.2 km in southeast-northwest direction, and 3.7 km in southwest-northeast direction...

 on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands

South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica is named after the Rose Valley.

External links

• Diaporama of the rose of bulgaria Valley