The town of Kazanlak is located in the pretty Valley of Roses at the foot of the Balkan mountains. The natural geographical centre of Bulgaria is just here where the roads of home and international tourist routes cross each other. In this area the nature has combined the beauty and majesty of the Balkan mountains with the fertility of the Tundzha river valley. Kazanlak is about 200 km east of Sofia, 55 km east of Karlovo, 48 km south of Gabrovo, 75 km west of Sliven, 35 km north-west from Stara Zagora and 108 km north-east of Plovdiv. Kazanlak is an important industrial, historical and cultural centre. The town is the capital of the Roses (rose growing) in our country. The Valley of Roses is one of the biggest producers of rose oil in the world. The soil and the climate in this region are quite suitable for the roses. The conditions in Kazanlak proved to be more favourable for the cultivation of the rose than those in its own country of origin - Tunisia. This is specifically valid for the rainfalls. The air humidity, cloudiness and precipitation in May and June contributed to obtain roses yielding high percentage of oil. The valley altitude is 710m at his highest point Klisoura. The climate in the Rose Valley is transitional between moderately continental and transitional continental. The rose plants usually start coming into leaf around March 10, when the air temperature settles at over 5° C. The rainfalls in the Rose Valley are heaviest in the spring, with a peak in June.

     History

     The first settlement sprang here in ancient times. The material culture of its inhabitants was manifested as early as the New Stone Age (Neolithic) - 6th - 5th centuries B.C. During the 4th through the 3rd centuries B.C. the lands on the upper course of the Tundzha river were a part of the area ruled by the Thracian King Seuthes III and took an important role in the Thracian history during the Hellenistic times. During the construction of Koprinka Dam the Thracian town of Seuthoplis was completely excavated, preserved and researched. The researches show that the area was inhabited by a large Thracian population, which reached the height of its cultural development during the 5th - 3rd centuries B.C.In the Middle Ages the valley became administrative centre of Kran region, ruled by the Bulgarian boyar Eltimir. In 1837 Kazanlak region fell under the Ottomans.
     During the first decades the town was a military fortress but later on more than 50 crafts developed here - leather-working, coppersmith's and goldsmith's trade, homespun tailoring, shoemaking, cooperage and of course, rose-oil manufacture. In the 1270, during the crusades, Count de Gruye brought the Damascus rose from Syria to the valley at the foot of the Balkan Range where conditions proved excellent. The temperatures in February, when roses bud, are ideal. The blossoms are picked in May and June, when high humidity is very important. So is the cinnamon-forest soil in the area. The first store house, run by the rose merchant Doncho Papazov was established in 1820. Since the 19th century Kazanlak has been the centre of Bulgarian rose-growing and rose-oil manufacture. The attar of rose from Kazanlak won gold medals at exhibitions in Paris, London, Philadelphia, Antwerpen, Milan.
     During the Russian-Turkish Liberation war (1877-78) Kazanlak region was a centre of the heroic battles led by the Bulgarian volunteer forces and the Russian troops in 1878 during the Russian-Turkish War of Liberation - 1877/78. After the liberation from the Ottomans the textile industry experienced a rapid development. The modern textile company named Rozova Dolina was established as a spinning factory by the Stainovi brothers as early as 1890. Kaprony company (aircraft industry) and Arsenal Munitions Works (1924) conquered good positions at the market.
     Kazanlak had an important role in Bulgarian economy after the Second World War. Hydraulics and pneumatics, arms industry, food industry, textile industry, essential-oil bearing plants, perfumery, and cosmetics experienced rapid development.
     Kazanlak has strong cultural and educational traditions. In 1836 Neofit Bozveli introduced the mutual method of teaching at monastery schools (e.g. older students instructed younger ones); the first school was established in 1860; Iskra chitalishte (reading club) was opened in 1973. Chitalishtes or reading clubs sprang up in nearly every town and village and provided the community with a venue for the arts, culture and public education. In 1883 Pedagogue School of Kazanlak was opened and created an army of well educated teachers for the whole country. Kazanlak is known as the native town of many artists and actors of national importance - Porfirii Velkov, Mara Penkova, Todor Mazarov, Stefan Getsov, Luna Davidova, Lyubomir Kabakchiev, Vidin Daskalov and others.

     Landmarks

     The Kazanlak Thracian Tomb (dated back to the end of 4th and first half of the 3rd century BC) was excavated in 1944. It is one of the 9 cultural, historic and natural sites in Bulgaria included in the UNESCO list of monuments of global importance. Indeed, it is a masterpiece of the Thracian architecture and painting. It is considered to belong to the "dome-shaped" type of tombs. The tomb is located in the north-eastern parts of the town, in the Tyulbeto Park. It consists of a lobby, a corridor and a round-shaped dome-roofed burial tomb. The system of ornaments in the corridor is complex and extremely interesting. The walls are covered with shining, fine plaster and a beautiful fresco - characteristic of the times - of interwoven leaves encircle its upper part. Scenes of war are depicted and in the centre of each one can see two warriors and two more coming from both sides, all of them in their battle attire and weapons. Warriors on horseback are also shown with the particulars of their battle gear and armament. This theme relates to the military and political activities of the deceased. The focal point is the main composition, which describes a burial feast. It is there that one can see a married couple of obvious eminence, painted with great skill and care. They are placed sit but next to them stands a tall woman, presumed to represent the Goddess of land and fertility - Demetra. Numerous figures of wildly galloping horses and battle carts add to the width and depth of the scene.
     Another notable tomb is the Muglizh Tomb - 3 kilometres west of the small town of Muglizh (regular busses from Kazanlak). It dates back to the 3rd century BC and has an overall length of 23 meters.
     Iskra Town Museum was founded in 1901, exhibits more than 70 000 objects and is one of the oldest in the country. In 1930 director of the museum became the well-known Bulgarian writer Dimitur Hristov Chorbadzhiiski - Choudomir. At present it is divided into 5 thematic sections. The Town Art Gallery is located in the same building with the museum The foundations of an art collection were laid in 1901. During its already century-old existence, the art gallery has gathered a valuable stock of paintings, graphics, and sculptures made by Kazanlak's and other Bulgarian artists. The art gallery harbours a collection of icons and engravings, a small collection of works of decorative and applied art as well as a collection of ex libris of foreign artists from the international In the Valley of the Roses Plein-air (V Dolinata na Rozite), held in Kazanlak. The permanent exposition of the art gallery displays a selection of this wealth where the presence of the local artists is considerable. Several temporary exhibitions and an exhibition-bazaar of the Representative Club of Bulgarian Artists in Kazanlak are arranged parallel with it.
     Choudomir Museum of Literature and Art has a year-round art exhibition called "The life and works of Choudomir" and a picture gallery - appreciation to many talents and nationally important works of Choudomir. The Choudomir Festivities are held in Kazanlak each year from 25th March (the birthday of the author) until the 1st April (Humour and Jokes Day).
     The Museum of the Rose -In 1969 the first Rose of Kazanlak exposition was opened at the Institute of Roses. This institutes conducts research in the field of roses and other extracts for the fragrance, pharmaceutical, and herbal industries. The museum of the rose industry conveys an idea of how rose jam, toothpaste, eau-de-cologne, and of course attar of roses are produced. It traces the development of rose industry from the beginning until nowadays.
     Koulata ethnographi complex - The charming cobbled Mirska Street is located in the oldest part of the city - Koulata District, which is near the world-famous Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. This is where traditional architecture from the period of the Bulgarian National Revival (18th - 19th century) can be found. The traditional buildings there constitute Koulata Ethnographic Complex, restored and open to visitors since 1976. They "take us back" to the unique, diverse material culture of Bulgarians from the Kazanlak region of the past. Before stepping through the big gate, one can hear the clanking of the coppersmiths' hammers in the distance. Their "song" tells the storey of the typical local coppersmiths' craft. Just opposite are the violin-makers, and right next door is the goldsmith's. The country house nestles among bushes and trees. It is one-storied, asymmetrical, and in architectural terms has the characteristic of the Balkan valley houses from the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. The life-style of the late 19th and early 20th century inhabitants of the region is shown in the restored houses from the time of the Bulgarian Renaissance. The artifacts displayed here are kept at Ethnography department. Kazanlak was a famous craftsmen town in the near past. Today you are given the opportunity to feel the atmosphere of the past, to feast your eyes on the Bulgarian Renaissance architecture, to watch activities done by hand as it was long, long ago and to try some of the rose industry products - rose jam, liqueur, and of course gyulovitsa (rose brandy).
     St. Joan the Precursor Church was built in 1844. In 1877 the greater part of the frescoes were destroyed. Stefan Ivanov, Nikola Marinov and Dechko Uzunov restored the wall paintings in 1936. Now it exibits two medallions, painted by Choudomir and Mara Chorbadzhiiska as well.

     Surrounding areas

     The national Shipka-Buzludza park-museum includes Shipka Memorial Church (or Church of the Nativity) near the town of Shipka, Shipka National Park, Freedom Monument near the village of Sheinovo and Buzludza National Park.
     The Shipka Memorial Church is located only 12km north of Kazanlak, at the south foot of the Stara Planina mountains near the town of Shipka. It was errected after the Liberation as a monument to both Russian and Bulgarian dead. The golden domes and the green and pink coloured facade loom against the mountains and attract the attention of the travelers in the Shipka pass. The project design following the seventeen-century Russian church architecture with arks, friezes, pediments, and gold-plated ornaments, was the work of the Czeck architect A.I. Tomisko. The main entrance has three arks, topped off with the distinctive 50m-high spire of the bell tower. There are 17 bells, the heaviest of them weighs about 12 t. The lime-tree iconostasis is richly decorated with gilded wood-carvings and is of great artistic value. The icons in the church were presented by Russian monks from the monastery of St. Pantaleimon on Mount Athos - Greece.The names of the Russian regiments and of both Russian and Bulgarian dead are inscribed on 34 marble plates built in the walls of the church. The honoured dust of the Russian soldiers killed at Shipka Pass (1877-78) have been kept in 17 stone sarcophagi in the crypt. The Shipka Memorial church was ceremoniously consecrated on 27th Sept., 1902.
     Shipka National Park is founded on the same area where the bloody battles of the Russian-Turkish Liberation War occurred during the 1870's. It represents a complex of memorial tablets, monuments, trenches, and bunkers reminiscent of the battle. On the top of the mount at Shipka rises Òhe Monument of Freedom. It was paid for by voluntary donations of the Bulgarian people and built after the design of Atanas Donkov, an architect and Alexander Andreev, a sculptor. The monument was opened officially in 1934. The located on the monument's levels expositions relate the story of Russian soldiers' and Bulgarian volunteers' heroism during the five-month defence of the pass. From the last ground there is a panorama of the restored details of the battle field, monuments and common graves reminiscent of the self-sacrifice of the Russian and Bulgarian heroes.
     Bouzludzha National Park rises east of the Shipka pass. It is a very important part of Bulgarian history - here, on July 30, 1868, Hadji Dimiter fell in battle. He was at the head of a small group of rebels fighting the numerous Turkish enemy. In 1961 a monument was built here to commemorate this act of heroism. The impressive marble figure of Hadji Dimiter is outlined against the green background of the pine-trees. Near it, under the venerable beeches, a stone bas relief commemorates another event in Bulgarian history - founding of the Bulgarian Socialist Party on August 2, 1891, after a clandestine congress.
     Other points of interest around the town of Kazanlak include St. Paraskeva Church in the village of Enina (4 km north of the town, regular buss line) built during the reign Tsar Assen II - about 1237-1238 and considered the oldest in the district. Several times partially burnt and recovered it owes its notoriety to the manuscripts found therein. St. Nicolai Monastery is close to the town of Muglizh (15 km east of Kazanlak and 2.5 km north of its centre, regular bus lines). It is beautifully situated on the bank of Muglizh River and represents an immortal bastion of Bulgarian spirit.

     Festival of Roses

     As a capital of the rose - growing region, Kazanlak hosts the annual Festival of Roses during the first week of June. This festival was held for first time in 1903 and was dedicated to the beauty and charity. Nowadays the festival is a pageant of beauty in the unique Valley of the Roses and one of the most attractive happenings both for local people and for the visitors. The festival programme includes the coronation of Queen Rose (a beauty contest in several rounds), the traditional rose-picking ritual and rose-distillation that gives you a true feeling of authenticity.
     The Festival ends with a street procession in which the main role is allotted for the participants of the International Folklore Festival that has been hold parallel to the Festival of Roses for some years.

     Sports and recreation

     The diversity of the nature in this region is favourable for sport and recreation both during winter and summer. The numerous mountainous chalets in this part of the Balkan mountain are well equipped and the area is suitable for recreation, winter sports training, hiking, etc. There are ski-lifts and ski-runs near some of the chalets, ski equipment rented.
     In the summer time Koprinka dam is the most popular place. The facilities for water sports, fishing and the beach area attract many visitors. The fresh pine forest and the newly built exquisite hotels contribute to the unique atmosphere of this site.
     There is an airport located 4 km south-east of the town for sport extreme lovers. The Parachutists Club offers everything necessary for training of both amateur parachutists and Bulgarian or foreign teams.

     Mineral water resorts

     Pavel Banya resort (400 m above sea level) is located at a 20km distance westwards of Kazanlak, at the north foot of Sredna Gora mountain. It is renowned for its mineral waters that have been used for treatment of different diseases since ancient times.They spring from seven natural and drilling sources and have total debit of 950 l/min.
     Kazanlak's Mineral Public Baths (known under the name of Ovoshtnik) - a resort of local importance, are located 5 km south-east of Kazanlak and 2 km west of the village of Ovoshtnik in the close proximity of the Toundzha river.
     The water is favourable for healing diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system, locomotory system, gastric diseases and others. There is a beach with two mineral water pools for the summer season near the mineral baths.