‘The group of Damask roses<\/b>, Rosa<\/i> \u00d7 damascena<\/i>, is a cultivar with a heavy, beguiling fragrance from Asia Minor<\/a> that is classified as an old rose<\/a>. It is generally assumed that Damask roses were already known in ancient times and were cultivated by the Persians. They are said to have arrived in European gardens via France with the crusaders of the 13th century. <\/span><\/p>\n The genus comprises between 100 and 250 species, depending on the view.<\/span><\/p>\n Between Burdur and Isparta, an hour and a half drive north of Antalya, 5 hours southeast of Izmir in the southern Taurus Mountains, is the center of Turkish rose oil production.<\/span><\/p>\n More than 100 years ago, a Turkish farmer brought the Rosa damascena plants from Bulgaria to the “Turkish Lake District”. This gave the farmers, who eked out an existence there at an altitude of between 1200 m and 1800 m above sea level through meagre farming, the opportunity to earn an income for their families. To further process the highly fragrant flowers into rose oil, they formed cooperatives that took over the distillation of rose oil and the marketing of the product. The cooperatives have been operating ever since, but are under threat from the rural exodus of young people in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n This region is also the origin of the first organic rose oil from organically certified rose cultivation. Contracts have been concluded with individual cooperatives for the conversion to organic farming. As a result, this region has become the center of organic rose cultivation in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n The ingredients in the different rose oils are the same. The scent is different. The extraction of essential rose oil is very labor intensive. five-six thousand kilos of flowers = one liter of rose turkey 5% essential oil.<\/span><\/p>\nRose oil in Turkey<\/h2>\n