The rose has always been a symbol of love, youth and beauty. There could not possibly be a flower which has been more cherished and praised from antiquity to modern days. Perhaps because of its intoxicating fragrance, with which one immediately falls in love, it has always beеn connected with something divine.
An ancient Roman legend relates the origin of the rouse and its red colour to the goddesses Diana and Venus. Diana, the goddess of hunting and the moon, had a very beautiful priestess named Rosalia. She fell in love with a young lad – Semedor – so deeply that she decided to marry him and leave the goddess. Furious at her priestess’ unfaithfulness, Diana pierced her with an arrow. A bush with fragrant white blossoms sprang up from the spot where the priestess’ blood had trickled. They were called roses after Rosalia’s name. And once, when Venus – the goddess of love – was running away from her infuriated husband Mars, she pricked herself on the thorns of the rose bush. The blood coloured the blossoms red. The Bulgarian oil-bearing rose (Rosa Damascena Mill) obtained as a result of 300 years of breeding is the most valued of all oil-bearing roses. Its refined scent and dermatological qualities make it an irreplaceable component in perfumery and cosmetics.