The Valley of roses

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 Rose Valley is not a geographical name – it is just a notion, associated with the location where the Bulgarian oil-bearing rose grows. 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 5º C.

The rainfalls in the Rose Valley are heaviest in the spring, with a peak in June. Daily rainfalls are not abundant, yet the rainy days are many. This kind of weather prolongs the flowering period, suppresses oil evaporation, at the same time increasing the yield of oil and its quality. The mean monthly precipitation in May and June is usually between 80 and 100 litres per square meter.
The absence of intensive sunshine prevents undesired liberation of the volatile aromatic ingredients from the flowers. Every five to seven years there occurs a sudden warming during the harvesting time, which hampers gathering, storing and distillation. To avoid the adverse effect of the winds on the rose bushes, they were always planted in hedge-rows.

The Trip of the rose

According to a legend, returning soldiers of Alexander Macedon’s garrisons brought the first roses to Thrace from the region of the town Kashan in Persia through Syria and Damascus. Bulgarian scientists presume that the cultivation of the roses was introduced to the region round Kazanlak, a town founded by the Turks in 1420. The roses were reportedly brought from Tunisia by a Turkish judge, who had beautiful vast gardens planted with fragrant roses. This is the trip of the rose.

After the developing of this industry in the Middle Ages and inventing the double and multiple distillation, the Bulgarian rose oil soon made a name for its superior quality. The demand for this oil of unsurpassed quality has not faded until today. The Bulgarian producers of the time became aware of the fact that they were manufacturing a new and precious product.

Distillation of rose flowers for liberating oil, a technology unknown anywhere in the world so far was welcomed by the new industries of perfumery and cosmetics that were flourishing in Western and Central Europe at that time. The Bulgarian rose oil was recognized in the world market for its superior quality and the cultivation and processing of roses developed as the first Bulgarian industry.

Bulgarian rose oil

An original Bulgarian technology for rose planting was gradually developed and adopted as a general practice in the past. It was called kesme. No other cultivation method has been able to preserve the character of the rose almost unchanged for over three centuries. This fact explains why there were no attempts at cultivating other rose varieties in the Rose Valley. The technology proved to be so good that rose bushes were even

exported to the Russian and the Turkish empires of the time. Distilling equipments for rose oil were imported from Persia and Tunisia. Striving to obtain rose water of better quality and of higher alcohol content, in the course of the time people came to employ double and then multiple distillation. This was a unique Bulgarian innovation in the technology of rose oil which made it essentially different from the original one.

The multiple distillation technology was tested and adopted on the analogy of method of stilling rakia (a kind of Bulgarian brandy). Rose water of higher alcohol content was obtained and, what is more important, the rose oil was produced. The major types of oil-bearing roses used to be cultivated for the purposes of attar extraction: the pink and the white rose. Until 1970, the pink rose plantations
brought almost 90 per cent of the total output. White roses were preferred for planting in higher altitudes. It is generally accepted that there are more than 5000 varieties of roses, yet only a few of them exhibit that market fragrance which is sought by perfumers. The Bulgarian oil-bearing rose has been cultivated in the Rose Valley for more than 300 years now.

Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, the bacterium that is responsible for giving Bulgarian yoghourt its unique flavour and consistency, can only be found in Bulgarian air.

Yoghourt - An original national product

The Bulgarian sour milk (kiselo mliako) is an original national product. Outside Bulgaria it is known by the name of “yoghourt”. It is supposed that the Bulgarian sour milk was connected with sheep-breeding, which can be traced back to Thracian times. Shepherds made a great variety of products using the large output of milk. It is believed that the best masters of yoghourt came from the Razgrad district. Yoghourt is obtained from full-cream milk after lacto-acidic fermentation at a temperature of 40-45 degrees C. Depending on the type of milk used, the sour milk may be sheep, cow, buffalo, or mixed yoghourt. The greatest amount of fats is found in buffalo yoghourt - 7.5 per cent, followed by sheep yoghourt - 6.5 per cent and cow yoghourt - 3.6 per cent.

Recipes
Here follows a description of how you yourself can produce Bulgarian sour milk, fulfilling the recipe of the Razgrad masters:
Ingredients: 1 liter of fresh milk; 1 spoonful of sour milk to start fermentation.

Directions: Boil the milk and let it cool to 38-40 degrees C (it should be a little warmer than your hand). Pour 1/4 teacupful of it on the portion of sour milk required to start fermentation and mix well. Then add this mixture to the fresh milk. Stir well, cover the pot with a lid, wrap it with a woollen blanket and leave it in a warm place. The temperature of 38-40 degrees C should be maintained for three hours, while the sour milk fermentation develops. The yoghourt thus obtained is kept in the refrigerator. Here is a recipe for COLD YOGHOURT SOUP (TARRATOR) - perfect for hot suumer days: 1 lb. plain yoghourt; 1 1/2 cups cold water; 1 peeled and finely chopped cucumber; 2 cloves garlic (crushed); 4 tbsp vegetable or olive oil; 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp fresh dill; 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional) In a large bowl mix yoghourt and water until smooth. Add all other ingredients, stir well. Serve. Makes 6-8 servings. In hot summer days you can add 1 of cube ice in each serving bowl.

The ‘Voyager‘ spacecraft launched in the 1970s on a voyage to meet and communicate with other planets, carried a laser disc of ten songs believed to be representative of ‘Earth’. One of these songs was the Bulgarian tune “Izlel e Deliu Haidutin” from the Rhodope region, performed by Valia Balkanska.

The inventor of the first electronic computer John Vincent Atanassoff is of Bulgarian origin. Professor John Atanassoff, together with graduate student Clifford Berry, built the world’s first electronical, digital, computer, at Iowa State University, between 1939 and 1942. The Atanassoff - Berry Computer, represented several innovations in computing, including a binary system of arithmetic, parallel processing, regenerative memory, and a separation of memory and computing functions.

A new monument dedicated to Bulgaria-descended computer inventor John Atanasoff was inaugurated in Bulgaria on October 4, 2003. The ceremony, attended by Atanasoff’s son and other family members, took place in his father’s birth place - the village of Boyadzhik near Yambol. Another monument was installed earlier in the center of capital Sofia as part of the celebrations of Atanasoff’s 100th birth Anniversary. At the ceremony in Boyadzhik Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister spokesman Lyubomir Todorov delivered a special message from Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. In the speech Atanasoff was called the “electronic Prometheus” since he gave birth to the field of digital computing - an invention that in just a few years affected the lives of almost all people around the globe. Passy’s words also underlined that people should not forget that we owe this great discovery to a man who had both Bulgarian and American origins.

The famous football player Hristo Stoichkov was born in Bulgaria. He was the man who led Barca to their first European Champions’ Cup! He was the one that took Bulgarian National football team all the way to the semi-final for the 1994 FIFA World Cup! Stoichkov is the first Bulgarian who has won the Golden Ball for best European football player!

One of the most renowned left-footed soccer players in activity, Hristo Stoitchkov has already cemented his status as a sports legend. He is considered among soccer’s elite, arguably one of the top soccer players of the 20th Century. His passion and competitive drive are contagious. Stoitchkov’s extraordinary talent, fiery temper and determination to succeed have led him to the heights of personal and professional triumph.

Stoitchkov, also called “Itso” by his friends, was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1966. According to his mother, Penka, Hristo was born “with a ball between his feet.” His father participated on the hometown local team of Maritsa, Plovdiv, as a goalkeeper. Stoitchkov began as a ball boy for the team, but by 1977 the 10 year olds talent had developed so well that he began playing for the team. In 1984, Stoitchkov left Maritsa to begin playing for team of Hebar, Harmali.

Once there, Stoitchkov’s genius did not go unnoticed for long. In 1985 Manol Manalov, the Manager of CSKA, Sofia, observed his extraordinary ability, and selected him to play for CSKA under the guidance and direction of coach Dimitar Penev. Penev, known for finding and developing new talents, helped bring Stoitchkov up to the next level, where his natural ability and mastery of the game would soon distinguish him from the other players.

Stoitchkov played for CSKA from 1986-1989, quickly becoming a National Hero. In his first full season with the team he helped CSKA win the Championship and Cup of Bulgaria. With mounting experience and achievements on the field, Stoitchkov was shaping up as a center figure in Bulgarian football. In 1989 he was named Top Goal Scorer of the league with a record of 23 goals. That same season, Stoitchkov also won the Golden Boot for Top Goal Scorer in Bulgaria and in Europe after CSKA reached the semifinals for the Cup Winners Cup.

Even though CSKA was defeated in the semifinals by Barcelona, Spain, Stoitchkov’s performance dominated the field and attracted the attention of Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff. Cruyff signed Stoitchkov to a five-year contract with Barcelona for a record sum of $4.5 million.

From 1990-1994, Stoitchkov scored over 100 goals for Barcelona. During this time, he led the team to win the Championship of the Spanish Primera Division four years in a row (’91-’94). In 1992 Barcelona won the Champion’s League, beating Sampdoria, Italy. Stoitchkov was becoming a hero for Barcelona supporters by now, with his mesmerizing power and accuracy, and a temper that scorched his opponents.

While he was playing for Barcelona, Stoitchkov was simultaneously leading the Bulgarian National team to their first ever qualification for the World Cup. Stoitchkov’s talents jumpstarted this event in 1994, when the team accomplished an unexpected defeat over France on French soil. Thanks to his amazing abilities, 1991-1994 was known as the Bulgarian National Team’s Golden Years.

During the 1995-1996 season, the Bulgarian National Team qualified for the European Championship for the first time in Bulgarian football history. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the first round by tough opposing teams from France, Spain and Romania. Stoitchkov scored in all three games, once again showcasing his amazing ability to control the ball and making him part of the “Dream Team.”

Meanwhile, in 1994, Parma, Italy paid the grand sum of $15 million to purchase him from Barcelona. He played for Parma for one year ending 1995.

In 1997, Stoitchkov played with Barcelona again, where Barcelona won multiple titles, including the Spanish Championship, Spanish Super Cup, Spanish King’s Cup and the European Cup. In 1997 Barcelona loaned their prodigy to Al-Nasr, Saudi Arabia for two months, where Stoitchkov helped the team win the Asian Cup Winners Cup, scoring one goal in the championship game.

By that time Stoitchkov had amassed numerous prestigious National and International titles and awards. He was voted Best Bulgarian Football Player of the Year five times (1989-1992, 1994) and awarded the Golden Boot two times (once in 1990 for Top Scorer in Europe, and in 1994 for Top Scorer in the World Cup). Stoitchkov won the Golden Ball for Best Football Player in Europe in (1994), the Golden Onze for Best Football Player in the World (1992) and also came in second place for the Golden Onze (1994), and won the Silver Globe awarded by FIFA two times for Second Best Football Player in the World (1992, 1994).

Today, Stoitchkov continues to play with the same zest and vigor as always with MLS. Stoitchkov was allocated by MLS to Chicago Fire in 2000, his current team. To date, he has helped the Fire win their second MLS Cup Final and led them to a second US Open Cup title in three years. Stoitchkov helped establish a team and league record in 2000 MLS playoffs by scoring two goals and three assists. He was named to the 2000 Pepsi MLS’s Best 11, and he was also one of the three finalists for the 2000 MLS/MasterCard Goal of the Year. Named to Soccer America’s Team of the Week six times, he is one of Chicago Fire’s leading scorers.

Stoitchkov loves sharing his experience and love for the game to younger Fire players. This passion to share his knowledge and experience is also reflected in a dream come true for the soccer player-the opening of the Hristo Stoitchkov Soccer Academy in Barcelona, Spain.

According Hristo Stoitchkov, “Soccer is simple…. Your movement on the field is important, and you have to have the right mentality, fighting in every game, in every practice, for every ball.”

Biography
Christo (Javacheff) was born in 1935 in Gabrovo, Bulgaria. Between 1953 and 1956 he studied painting, sculpture and stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia. In 1956 he lived briefly in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1957 he studied sculpture for one term under Fritz Wotruba at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. In 1958 he settled in Paris. He became temporarily associated with the Nouveau Royalistes. In 1958 he began to package objects.

His first “store fronts”
His assemblages of oil drums were shown in Cologne in 1961. He exhibited in 1963 at the Galerie Schmela, Dusseldorf. In 1964 he moved to New York where he made his first “store fronts”. In 1966 his “store fronts” were shown at the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, and at the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York.

His first packaged building
In 1968 he packaged the Berner Kunsthalle - his first packaged building. He was represented at the documental exhibitions “4″, “5″ and “6″ in Kassel in 1968, 1972 and 1974, and in 1972 and 1976 at the Venice Biennale. He produced over dimensional packaging projects for buildings, skyscrapers and landscapes. His especially well-known large scale projects were Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado in 1972 and Running Fence, California, in 1976.

The Project “Wrapped Reichstag”
In 1977 his exhibition Christo - The Running Fence toured Rotterdam, Bonn, Hanover, Humblebaek, Hovikoden, Zurich, Brussels and Grenoble. In 1971 he began the project Wrapped Reichstag with his artistic partner Jeanne-Claude, which was completed in 1995. In 1980 he took part in the exhibition Mein Kolner Dom for the 100th anniversary of the cathedral.

The project “Surrounded Islands”
In 1983 Christo and Jeanne-Claude produced the project Surrounded Islands: eleven islands in Biscayne Bay near Miami, Florida, were surrounded by wide collars of floating pink polypropylene fabric.

Bulgaria-Born Christo Celebrates Freedom in The Gates
Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude are to install 23 miles of saffron-colored fabric gates in Central Park after winning a long-drawn-out battle with the city council of New York.

Exceptional healing qualities
Nowadays scientists are unanimous about the exceptional healing qualities of honey products – honey itself, bee-pollen, propolis and bee gum. All these products are powerful stimulators of the human immune system; they guard the organism from viruses, improve mental activity, regulate blood pressure and even prevent leukemia. Besides vitamins, ferments and minerals honey products contain irreplaceable amino acids, which are five times more than those contained in meat, eggs and cheese.

A unique place for beekeeping
Bulgaria is a unique place for beekeeping.The pure Bulgarian nectar honey is rich in numerous vitamins, while the multi-floral honey shows very good chemical analysis parameters. The presence of those particular herbs growing only up the Bulgarian mountain slopes makes it one of the most precious products on a world scale.
According to European standards the quantity of water may be about 20%, while the requirements of the Bulgarian State Standard say it should not be more than 16-18%. That is one of the reasons why Bulgarian honey is better preferred.

The vastest lowland in Bulgaria and on the Balkans, is the Upper Thrace. (Plovdiv is the metropolis of the region). It is about 180 km long and 50 km wide. Its overall area is 6032 square km.

The largest bay is the Bourgas Bay on the Black Sea coast. It goes 31 km into the land. At its widest, it measures 41 km, and its deepest point is 25 m.

The largest coastal lake is the Varna Lake that covers an area of 18 square km. It is also the deepest - 19 m.

The largest glacial lake is Smradlivoto in the Rila Mountain. It covers 21.2 hectares.

The highest mountain is Rila. Its highest peak Moussala rises to an altitude of 2925 m above the sea level. This is the highest point on the Balkans. The first written evidence of the peak being climbed refers to King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.

The highest glacial lake is Popovoto, in the Pirin Mountain, situated at 2715 m above the sea-level.

The highest waterfall is Raiskoto Praskalo /Paradise Sprayer/ - 124 m. It is not far away from the Botev peak in the Balkan Range. The total number of falls in Bulgaria is nearly 300, 70 of which are state-guarded.

The only Bulgarian extinct volcano is Kozhukh (281 m above sea level). It is not far from the southwestern town of Petrich.

The greatest number of mineral springs are to be found in the town of Velingrad - more than 70.

The longest cave is close to the village of Bosnek, in the Vitosha Mountain near Sofia - over 15 km. Six underground rivers have dug out the labyrinths of its galleries. As many as 4000 caves have been investigated and mapped in Bulgaria so far.

The lowest temperature, measured in an inhabited locality, was registered in the winter of 1947 in the town of Tran, west of Sofia - minus 38.3 degrees centigrade.

The highest temperature was measured in the summer of 1916 in Sadovo, near Plovdiv - 45.2 degrees centigrade.

The heaviest rain was recorded on 21 August 1951 in the neighborhood of the port of Varna, where within only 24 hours there were rainfalls of 342 mm. The average annual precipitation for the country is 650 mm.

The most prolonged fog occurred in December 1948 in Sofia - 29 days and nights. At that same time, the fogs in Plovdiv and Lom stayed for 28 days.

The hottest mineral spring is in Sapareva Banya near the town of Dupnitsa. Its temperature is 103, 8 degrees centigrade. According to some sources, this is the hottest spring in Europe.

The oldest tree is an oak growing in the village of Granit near Stara Zagora. Its age is estimated at about 1650 years. The crown of this oak-tree covers 1017 square m; the circumference of its trunk is 7, 45 m and its height - 23, 40 m.

The “Baikusheva Mura” /white fir/ in Pirin Mountain is as old as the Bulgarian state - 1300 years.

The largest bear in Europe by 1936 fell a victim to man in the neighborhood of Borovets, the famous ski resort in Rila Mountain. This “record” was recognized as a record at an international hunting exhibition in Berlin.

Bisons in the Bulgarian lands disappeared as early as the Middle Ages. In 1961 the reserve near the town of Razgrad acquired 2 couples of bisons and settled them in the Voden forest. Nowadays there are several dozens of bisons in different Bulgarian preserves.

The largest amphibian is a turtle, which was caught and then set free near the town of Krumovgrad in 1987. It weighed 5 kg, was 35 cm long, and of the same height, 29 cm wide and 100-120 years old - i.e. at the age limit of animals of the European fauna. Another turtle of similar dimensions was caught some 80 years ago in the neighborhood of Kotel, a town in Central Bulgaria.

The rarest animal species is the Black Sea seal of which only 5-6 are left now. They inhabit the caves along the shoreline around the Black Sea capes of Kaliakra and Masslen.

The farthest migration is that of the eels, which live in the Bulgarian rivers, but spawn as far away as the Sargasso Sea, east of Florida, U.S.A.

The longest river running only across Bulgarian territory is Iskar - 368 km.

The last lynx in Bulgaria was shot in 1941 in the Rila Mountain.

The last lion in the Bulgarian lands was killed during the campaign of the Persian king Xerxes (as evidenced by Xenophon).