On our first full day in Ouarzazate, Henry and I decided to make an expedition to the Dadès Valley, or Valley of the Roses. We had first learned of this valley from Parisienne friends in Zanzibar, then upon arrival, we discovered our timing here was perfect, as this day and the following two days were to be celebrated as the Festival of Roses. This festival, an annual event, coincides with the end of the harvest of rose blossoms, and varies each year depending on the harvest dates. Lucky us! On our drive through Ouarzazate, then Skoura, an oasis, Aziz stopped at a shop in the small town of El-Kelaa M’Gouna, site of the festival, to see a demonstration explaining the process of extracting the delicate fragrance from rose petals. Piled high on the tile floor of the processing room were beautiful, soft pink rose petals, ready for the distillation. These roses from Pink Damascus Rose bushes, Rosa damascena brought back from Mecca, have developed a resistance to the cold and dry conditions of the valley, and are grown as a border to separate and protect the various plantations of crops, such as wheat. When the roses are in full bloom, they are picked by the women of the area, who sell them by weight to a local cooperative. They are winnowed, then distilled by a slow process of compression and filtration in one of 30 workshops. The process, which has remained unchanged over centuries, immerses the roses in boiling water to infuse or distill. Between 4,500 and 5,000 kilograms /10-11.5 tons of petals are distilled to collect each liter of rose essence.  With droplets forming on the petals, and rivulets of liquid aroma rise to plop into receptacles as a hydrolat known as floral water or rose essence. The result is a concentrated and precious liquid, one single drop  equalling the fragrance of 30 roses. This rose essence is used locally to produce simple cosmetic products such as rose water, soaps and creams. It is also used medicinally, especially soothing for sensitive skin, with anti-aging, antiseptic, and natural PH-balancing properties. Combined with Argan oil, unique to Morocco, its hydrating properties double. Rosewater is also used in the indigenous and sophisticated cuisines, including pastries, teas, sugar, honey, and jams. Morocco exports part of its annual 400 liter production of this concentrated rose essence worldwide, resulting from about 4,000 tons/8,000,000 lbs or 3,628,729 kgs of rose petals collected here each year. More than half the top perfume houses’ “summer fragrances” include the essence of roses from El-Kelaa M’Gouna as a “heart note” in their perfumes. To cap this experience, Aziz, our driver, stopped along the roadside in El-Kelaa M’Gouna to buy a heart shaped string of rose petals for his wife, and a necklace of fresh rose petals for me. I slept like a baby overnight with this looped around the headboard of our bed at Riad Ksar Ighnda.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. View of the architecture of the area, as viewed from the fields in the valley. 2. Miss Rose, selected in the annual event. Her hair is braided with colorful wool, and her eyes and lips are lined with heavy applications of kohl, made of manganese. The 2010 Miss Rose had not been selected when we toured El-Kelaa M’Gouna rose petals used for tea. 3. A late blooming rose. 4. Dried roses used for rose tea. 5. A pile of fresh rose petals waiting for the distillation process. These laid on the tile floor of one of the workshops we visited in El-Kelaa M’Gouna.   Center, Top:  A beautiful Rosa damascena, a variety that has adapted to the arid and cold conditions of the Dadès Valley. Center, Middle: The spectacular landscape of the Dadès Oasis. Center, Bottom: A worker winnowing the roses to break up the blossoms and separate the petals from other parts of the flower. Right Column: 1. Traditional architecture of the area, with a mud wall surrounding the property. 2. View of the Dadès Valley near where the crops and roses were planted.  3. A wheat field around which we walked, to see the roses growing along its border. 4. Rose buds on Rosa damascena rose bushes in the Dadès Valley near El-Kelaa M’Gouna.

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                        BACK TO MAP  PAGE