TEHRAN – Iran eyes a UNESCO World Heritage tag for its rosewater festivals, which are known as Golab-Giri by the locals.

Iran has submitted a dossier for the traditional production of rosewater and related social and cultural traditions to UNESCO as a nomination for its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, CHTN reported on Tuesday.

In the middle of spring, numerous Golab-Giri ceremonies are held in central Iran, drawing thousands of visitors to Kashan and nearby cities and villages.

Visitors enjoy the sprite of full-bloom flower farms, socialize with the locals, and see how rosewater is traditionally made from the harvesting stage to steaming damask rose petals either at homes or gardens.

Other places include Qamsar, Niasar, and Barzak. From early May to mid-June, the entire area was alive with the vibrant dance of colors and sweet scents of roses.

The concentration of flowers and herbs has a deep history in Iran. Many believe traditionally distilled rosewater is of higher quality than that produced in factories, probably due to the shorter time interval between the harvest and distillation practices.

Golab or rosewater is a fragrant distillate of Mohammadi roses, which is used in dishes to flavor them or consumed as a religious perfume as well.

Rosewater is traditionally produced from a very sweet-smelling kind of flower, best known as Mohammadi roses in the country.

Flower harvesting requires some hard work. Most of it is completed in the early morning hours. According to rumors, essential oil quantity and quality decline as a result of delays in harvesting or transport to the distillery.

Before extracting rosewater, farmers amass their petals to put them into the massive copper pots. Then the pots are put in traditional ovens made from bricks, stones, and mud.

Almost every 30 kilograms of rose petals plus 80 liters of water are poured into each pot that is connected to metal pipes for the steam moving through to obtain the hydrosol. The waste of distillation is used for feeding livestock or composting.

According to locals, rose oil and rosewater have a number of therapeutic advantages. They claim that rose oil calms the mind and relieves depression, grief, stress, and tension.

These products are said to improve skin health, colds, and digestive system issues.

AFM