Bulgarian Rose

There are no exact details of when the rose was introduced in Bulgaria.

According to many authors such as Herodotus, Theophrastus, Pliny the Younger, the ancient Thracians living in the lands of present-day Bulgaria cultivated roses and used them for decorations and in religious ceremonies.

In the beginning rose water was the leading product of interest, because of its religious application in temples and harems from the Near to the Far East.

The rose water produced in Bulgaria was enough only to meet the needs of the local Bulgarians and Turks.

Before the process of distillation was introduced, Bulgarians extracted aromatic substances from the flowers by soaking them in clay pots and leaving for few days in the sun; later, the old primitive process was discarded after the introduction of direct fire stills and double water distillation; Industrial patterns of production started in early 20th century as the demand for Bulgarian rose oil and water grew with the development of the perfumery and cosmetics industries.