NEW BUILDING OF THE ROSE MUSEUM OPENED IN BULGARIA’S KAZANLAK

On 5th of June, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov opened the new building of the only museum in the world dedicated to the rose, the Rose Museum in the South Bulgarian town of Kazanlak. The construction of the new facility started in June 2015.

The exposition of the museum presents the history of Bulgarian rose oil and includes original pictures and documents of the development of rose production, instruments for processing of the rose gardens, vessels for storing and exporting rose oil and rose water.

The event was part of the Festival of Roses in the South Bulgarian town of Kazanlak, which gathered thousands of tourist and visitors from the country and abroad. The celebrations reached their peak at the weekend when Queen Rose was elected and a festival parade took place along the main street.

The town of Kazanlak is situated in the Rose Valley (also called The Valley of Roses) - a region in central Bulgaria, including the rose fields in Kazanlak, Karlovo, Strelcha and Pavel Banya. Most often, the Rose Valley refers to the rose fields around the towns of Kazanlak and Karlovo, located 30 miles apart, between the Balkan and Sredna Gora mountains. The area is Bulgaria’s most important centre for rose-oil production and the source of the world’s finest perfumes. The rose fields bloom from mid-May to mid-June when the whole area is enveloped in their fragrance.

Every year during the first week of June the local community in the town of Kazanlak organizes the Festival of Roses. It is related to multiple events – rose-picking, rose-boiling demonstrations, international folklore festival, festal procession and crowning the Queen of Roses in a beauty contest.

The first Rose Festival took place in 1903.