Kazanlak (
Bulgarian ????????) is a
Bulgarian town located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the
Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the
Rose Valley. Kazanlak is the 10th biggest industrial center in Bulgaria, with a population of 79,464 people as of 2007
[citation needed]. The town is the center of
rose oil extraction in Bulgaria and the
oil-producing rose of Kazanlak is one of the most widely recognizable national symbols
[citation needed].
The oldest settlement in the area of the modern-day city dates back to the Neolithic era (6-5th millennium EC). During the 4th-3rd centuries EC the lands on the upper Tundzha river were within the dominion of the Thracian ruler Seuthes III and took an important place in the historical development of Thrace during the Hellenistic era. The Thracian city of Seuthopolis was uncovered near Kazanlak and thoroughly studied at the time of the construction of the Koprinka Reservoir. In the 4th century BC, near the ancient Thracian capital of Seuthopolis and close to the city, a magnificent Thracian tomb was built. Consisting of a vaulted brickwork "beehive" (tholos) tomb, it contains, among other things, painted murals representing a Thracian couple at a ritual funeral feast. The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
In the Middle Ages the valley became an administrative center of the Krun region where the Bulgarian boyar Eltimir ruled. After 1370 Kazanlak was under Ottoman dominion.
The modern city dates back to the beginning of the 15th century. It was founded as a military fortress to protect the Shipka Pass and later developed as a city of craftsmen. More than 50 handcrafts developed such as tanning, coppersmithing, goldsmithing, frieze weaving, shoemaking, cooperage and, of course, rose cultivation. The oil-producing rose, imported from India via Persia, Syria and Turkey, found all the necessary conditions to thrive&_160;— proper temperature, high moisture and light, sandy, cinnamon-forest soils. The Kazanlak rose oil has won gold medals at expositions in Paris, London, Philadelphia, Antwerp, Laet, and Milan. After the Liberation the handcrafts declined due to the loss of the markets in the huge Ottoman Empire. The textile, aerospace and military industries were developed.
