TEHRAN – A rosewater distillation festival, commonly known as “Golab-giri”, was held in Nalbandan village, west-central Zanjan province on Friday, a local tourism chief has said. 

Performing local games, displaying handicrafts, and selling herbal beverages were parts of the festival, CHTN quoted Masoumeh Shiri as saying on Saturday. 

To introduce the capacity of rural tourism and especially in lesser-known areas, the festival served to familiarize people and tourists with the harvesting and cultivating of rose flowers, she noted.

The festival also aimed at introducing and promoting the tourism potential of the region, the official added. 

Golab or rosewater is obtained from a particular kind of rose, known as Mohammadi roses in Iran. Harvesting flowers seems to be the most important part of the process. They should be picked from dawn through morning very carefully. The petals are put into massive copper pots and boiled, and then the extracted water is kept in special bottles. The longest the distillation is, the better will be the quality of the rosewater.

Golab is used nationwide in diverse traditional dishes to flavor them or consumed as a religious perfume as well. The holy month of Ramadan, which started yesterday, is one of the bestselling months for the product.

The distillation 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 shorter time intervals between the harvest and distillation practices.

Zanjan is one of the cities founded by Sassanid King Ardashir I (180-242 CE). The province makes a base for wider explorations with the architectural wonder of Soltaniyeh, the subterranean delights of the Katale-Khor caves, colorful mountains, and the UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleiman ruins are nearby.

ABU/AFM