The cultivation of damask rose has nearly 7 thousand years of history in Iran.
Golab or rose water is the product of distilling rose petals based on indigenous knowledge and expertise.
During the spring and specifically from mid-April to mid-May, Kashan County becomes one of the most important tourist destinations in Iran due to the traditional ceremony of golab-giri or making rose water.
Called the annual Festival of Rose and Rose Water, it is mainly held in Qamsar, which is home to the greatest damask-rose gardens, but the roses are also planted and distilled in Neyasar, Barzok, Kamou, Vadeqan, Van, Darreh, and a number of mountain villages.
The roses are picked collectively during the early hours of the morning.
Those who pick the roses are called gol-chin, and they do their job before sunrise.
Then, the distillation of rose water begins.
In the process of golab-giri, large copper pots are filled with damask-rose petals and water and then put over the fire in order to make rose water.
Traditionally, the people of Kashan County used to carry the roses and the pots to the riverbank and perform religious rituals (reciting prayers) during the ceremony of golab-giri.
