Dear friends of "Photo Moments", do you know that in the city of Kazanlak there is a one-of-a-kind rose museum, which is unique in the world?
The first museum exhibition about the Kazanlak rose in the city was opened in 1967, and in 1969 it grew into a rose museum. Since 2016, it has been housed in a newly constructed building in Rosarium Park and is part of the Historical Museum "Spark" in Kazanlak.
Rose production and, to an even greater extent, the trade in rose oil over the past years have become one of the most attractive business cards of the Kazanlak region. Since nearly a century ago, it has been rightly argued that the rose culture in Bulgaria, aimed at extracting rose oil, is not only the oldest and most attractive industry in our country, but also quite exclusive and specific to the region.
That is why one of the main tasks of the museum is to regularly inform the people who visit it about the history of oil rose cultivation and rose production in the Bulgarian lands.
The Rose Museum has an extremely rich collection of objects, photos and documents telling the story of the Bulgarian production of oil roses.
The exhibits are located in three spaces.
The museum can also see tools for working rose gardens, containers for storing and exporting rose oil and water.
A warehouse for rose oil and the first laboratory for researching the purity of rose oil, created in 1907 by the chemistry teacher at the Kazanlak school, Hristo Yaramov, were also reconstructed. This is related to a difficult moment in the history of Bulgarian rose production, when the so-called tereshe - a fake of the real rose oil. Under the threat of collapsing the reputation of Bulgarian rose oil as the best in the world, Hristo Yaramov's laboratory is a successful attempt to thwart this harmful practice.
A notable item in the museum's display is a vessel for rose oil (konkuma), which was last used in 1947, but the fragrance of roses still wafts from it.
In the museum, tourists have the opportunity to buy rose oil, various rose oil products, cosmetics, rose liqueur, gyul brandy and souvenirs related to the lifestyle and culture of rose growers.
Today, this unique and unique rose museum in the world houses over 15,000 exhibits related to rose picking and rose production from all over Bulgaria.
Every year, during almost the entire month of May, a traditional rose festival is organized in Kazanlak, which offers visitors unforgettable memories related to the beauty, cheerfulness and hospitality of the residents of the Rose Valley.
For the first time, the rose festival was celebrated in Kazanlak in 1903, and in 2023, 120 years of the beginning of these fragrant holidays will be celebrated.
It is a well-known fact that Bulgarian rose oil is the best quality in the world - without competitors. All world-famous perfume companies use it in their formulations because of two main qualities:
Gives the perfume great durability
It gives the perfume a particularly pleasant aroma.
Bulgarian rose oil won gold medals at world exhibitions in Vienna (1873), Paris (1875), Philadelphia (1876), Chicago (1893) and others.
Bulgarian rose oil has been an indispensable ingredient for the developing European perfumery since 1720 and was exported by ship via Constantinople to Marseille, London and New York, and by horse-drawn caravans via Bucharest to Vienna, Paris and Berlin.
In 1820, Doncho Papazov from Kazanlak established the first Bulgarian rose trading house. His sons Dimitar and Botio expanded its activities.
The rose trading houses of Kuncho Shipkov (1840), Hristo Hristov (1863) and Petko Orozov (1864) followed.
Rose damascena mill. f. trigintipetala was brought to Bulgaria from India via Persia, Syria and Turkey.
In this exact place - in the valley between Stara Planina and Sredna Gora, she finds her second homeland.
The Kazanlak Valley takes the name Rose Valley.
Kazanlak is the European Kashmir, Turkish Gulestan – the land of roses!
Helmut von Moltke, German Field Marshal
The rose harvest lasts about a month - it starts on May 20 and lasts until June 20. It depends on the weather conditions of the season.
It takes place early in the morning from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. / 10:00 a.m.
The technology underlying the production of the famous Bulgarian rose oil is double distillation.
In the primitive way, 15 kilograms of pink color and 60 liters of clean water are needed to fill a cauldron.
The process is labor-intensive - 1 kilogram of rose oil is obtained from 3,000 kilograms of rose flowers, and 1 gram - from 1,000 rose flowers.
Its price on the international market is around 4,000 euros per kilogram.
Useful information
Work time:
Every day from 09:00 to 17:30.
Login:
Price for adults: BGN 6.00.
Price for students (pupils and students): BGN 2.00.
Price for children up to 7 years: free
Price for a talk in Bulgarian: BGN 10.00.
Price for a talk in a foreign language: BGN 20.00.
Free visit for unorganized tourists: Every last Monday of the month
Amateur shooting:
Price of amateur shooting with a camera: BGN 5.00.
Price of amateur filming with a video camera: BGN 20.00.
Contact phone: 0431 6 40 57
Email address for correspondence: museum.iskra.kz@abv.bg
How to get to the city of Kazanlak?
Kazanlak is a city in central Bulgaria, the administrative center of the municipality of the same name in the Stara Zagora region.
The number of its population places it in 2nd place in the district and 20th in the country.
Kazanlak is the center of the Rose Valley. In the city there is the largest and best preserved Thracian tomb in the country, included in the UNESCO list.
Nearby is the ancient city of Sevtopolis - submerged under the waters of the "Koprinka" dam and the Valley of the Thracian Kings.
Kazanlak stands on:
236 kilometers (about 2 hours and 50 minutes by car) from the capital
139 kilometers (about 1 hour and 44 minutes by car) from the city of Plovdiv
312 kilometers (about 3 hours and 54 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
190 kilometers (about 2 hours and 05 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
How do you get to the rose museum in the city of Kazanlak?
The rose museum in the city of Kazanlak is located in the park "Rosarium".
You can park your car in the parking lot located at 1 Voynishka Street.
What can be visited nearby?
Currently, the Rose Museum is located in the middle of Rosarium Park in the city of Kazanlak.
That's why, after viewing the museum's rich exposition, I suggest you take a relaxing walk through the wonderful avenues of the park.
In the city of Kazanlak, I suggest you also visit the church "Saint Elijah", known as the Kulen church.
Only 5 kilometers south of the town of Kazanlak (about 8 minutes by car) is the village of Buzovgrad, from where the wonderful eco-trail adventure "Path through the Ages" begins.
You shouldn't miss it for anything in the world!
48 kilometers east of Kazanlak (about 40 minutes by car) you will find the "Zhrebchevo" dam.
The ruins of the sunken church "St. Ivan Rilski" still stand by the dam.
23 kilometers west of Kazanlak (about 25 minutes by car) you will find the town of Pavel Banya.
3 kilometers east of Pavel Banya (about 5 minutes by car) you will find the village of Viden.
The proud ruins of the wonderful church "St. Anastasius" still stand near the village.
4 kilometers south of Pavel Banya (about 7 minutes by car) is the village of Turia.
Here you can see the birthplace of Chudomir.
On the square in front of Chudomir's house, you can see a monument to the Chetnik Tsanko Minkov Dechev, born in Turia Botev - the Committee.
In Turia you can enjoy an authentic Roman bridge "Scocca".
At 8 kilometers from Turia (about 9 minutes by car) you can enjoy the natural landmark "Kitchest Gabor".
Quite close to "Kitchest Gabar" you can see Kutela.
And as a finale, my dear friends,
you shouldn't miss a look
the special album with photo moments –
discovered, experienced, captured and shared with you!