Golabgiri

The desert in bloom

Every spring the valleys of Kashan County, above all around the villages of Qamsar and Niasar, fill with the pink blossom of Rosa damascena, the Damask rose, known locally as the gol-e Mohammadi. For a few weeks the hot, dry country turns into gardens of flowers, and the whole region turns to making golab — rosewater. The festival draws anywhere from tens of thousands to, by some counts, two million visitors a year.

Roses have been grown in Iran for more than a thousand years, and Iran is today the world’s largest producer of rosewater. Kashan became a centre of distilling in the sixteenth century, and the festival honours the fact that it still uses the oldest methods, while other places have turned to machines.

From the field to the still

Families go out to pick before sunrise, when the blooms are thought to hold the strongest scent, and are usually done by noon. The petals go straight to the distillery.

There, about thirty kilograms of petals are placed in a large copper pot called a dig, together with water. The pot is sealed and heated; steam rises through the flowers, carries off their oils and fragrance, and condenses in a cooling coil. A single distillation takes several hours — at least four is recommended — and the rosewater is then graded by strength, from heavy first-grade golab to lighter “double-fire” and “triple-fire” waters.

A festival around the craft

Tours take visitors to the rose fields and the old distilleries, and cultural centres hold rosewater ceremonies, handicraft exhibitions and performances of Iranian regional music. One old custom, gol-ghaltan, “rolling in flowers”, sees grandmothers lay a freshly bathed baby on a white cloth heaped with rose petals, thorns and leaves carefully removed, as a blessing against illness and sadness.