The Valley of Roses, a unique place in Bulgaria, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains and
      in the proximity of the town of Kazanluk, is visited every year  by  thousands  of  admiring  and
      curious tourists.  From  here  the  distilled  rose  oil is  exported  to all world-famous perfumery
      firms where it is used as a component in perfumes and cosmetic preparations.
                The Bulgarians have been familiar with the rose for centuries.  Moreover,  they  made  it
      their symbol of struggle and victory, of the sublime and the beautiful. In the  17th  century they
      planted the Oriental oil-bearing rose in the Kazanluk Valley, cultivated it  and with  hard  work
      turned the place into a rose garden whose fragrance became known  in  all European countries.
      For many years the Bulgarians mastered rose production, improved the oil-bearing rose-shrubs,
      enlarged the areas, produced rose varieties that yield more. Dozens of exhibits, photos, charts in
      the museum of rose production in Kazanluk trace the different stages in the production  of  rose
      oil. In Kazanluk, in the heart of the Valley of Roses, there is a modern Institute of  the Rose and
      Essential oils. Specialists of the institute have already obtained two new varieties of  oil-bearing
      rose - Svezhen ans Iskra. The yields from them exceed by 40  cent those of the Oriental oil-bea -
      ring rose.  Have  a  stroll  about  the  gardens  of  thousands  of  hectares  strewn  with  different
      fragrant rose-shrubs come when roses are picked and you will see for yourselves that the rose is
      part of the Bulgarians' fate. The rose is our symbol, a symbol of national pride.