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The National Agricultural museum-Sofia was established in 1956. The principal activity of the museum is to investigate, collect, preserve and present monuments of the material and spiritual culture of the Bulgarians, reflecting the agricultural tradition in our lands from the antiquity up to the present.
The oil-bearing rose-a pride of our country- is a plant that is very exigent as regards the climate and soil. It is one of those plants that have chosen one or few spots on the Earth. Nature has been quite generous to give shelter to the oil-bearing rose-the most fragrant among all roses-in our Sub-Balkan fields, called "The Valley of Roses". The world-famous for its aroma and quality rose oil, used in the perfumery and cosmetic industries, is obtained out of its blossoms.
The Bulgarian oil-bearing rose was descended from the town of Damascus and that's why it was called rose "damascene" in the past. According to some sources, it was transferred with the coming of the Turks from there first in the region of Stara Zagora, and later on to the valleys of the Stryama and Tundzha rivers, Karlovo region and to a part of the Kazanluk fields-where it has found its habitat not only in our country, but also in whole world.
The oil-bearing rose belongs to the family of roses /Rosaceae/. It is a perennial bush that reaches a height of about 2 m. This crop is extremely exigent regarding the climate and the soil. It thrives in crumbly, warm, alluvial, clayey and gravel soils, sloping to the south. For this reason the oil-bearing rose has taken shelter only in the regions of Karlovo and Kazanluk.
The Bulgarian oil-bearing rose and rose-production are a real national privilege. The efforts for growing it elsewhere in or outside the country have not given good results in the quantity and quality of the attar of roses.
The rose oil production is accomplished through a distillation of rose blossoms. Distilling system consists of copper distiller /alambik/, a steam conducting pipe, a cooling vessel and vessels for collecting of the distillate-rose oil and rose water. The process continues up to 2 hours. The distilling systems are installed every year in the open or under sheds /gyulaphani/. This method of rose oil extraction was practiced up to the beginning of 20th c. when novelties in the technology and installations were introduced. The Florentine vessel for distillate collecting was brought into use.
Since 1906 the production of rose concrete has started in our country through the method of extraction, by which the purest produce is obtained. Since 1935 the rose blossoms have been processed only in modern rose-distillery factories.
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