Roses dominate both the scenery and local commerce in this region, which stretches for nearly 56 mi/90 km between Kazanlak and Klissura in the central Balkan Mountains, beginning 68 mi/110 km east of Sofia at Klissura. Plovdiv is almost directly south of Klissura, 58 mi/92 km away.
Area villages not only export the flowers intact, but they use rosebuds to create medicine, liquor and even jams. Flowers are, in fact, Bulgaria's oldest industry and an important source of foreign currency. Stop and smell the roses in May and June, the best time to see them bloom. To see pickers at work, be sure to go early in the day—petals must be plucked between dawn and 8 am, before the dew dries.
A rose festival is held in Kazanluk, the Valley's main town, in June. There's also a rose festival in the towns of Karlovo, Kanchevo and Pavel Banya. Kazanluk also is home to the Iskra Museum and Art Gallery and the Kulata Ethnological Complex, which features tastings of locally made rose liquor. A magnificent excavated third-century BC Thracian tomb with beautiful frescoes also lies nearby in Tyulbe Park.
Shipka, some 7 mi/12 km north of Kazanluk, boasts the beautiful white and rose-colored Shipka Memorial Church with golden domes. The drive over the 4,285-ft/1,300-m Shipka Pass, situated 10 mi/16 km north of town on an extremely winding mountain road, is particularly beautiful.
Located deep in the mountains 60 mi/95 km northeast of Klissura, the Troyan Monastery offers excellent frescoes. On the north side of Shipka Pass, some 40 mi/63 km north of Kazanlak is the Dryanovo Monastery, site of an 1876 rebellion and home to a decent collection of icons.
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