Ruins of a kasbah in Kalaat M'Gouna, Morocco
© Leonid Andronov/Getty Image
Morocco in bloom
Millions of roses are harvested in May and June each year in the Dades Valley of Morocco, known as the Valley of Roses. (It's also called the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs, for the many traditional fortresses found here.) The Asif M'Goun River flows from high in the Atlas Mountains, bringing water to the lush valleys below.
We’re looking at the town of Kalaat M'Gouna, the center of the rose harvest each spring, when thousands of pounds of roses are plucked from the valley's abundant bushes. Their fragrant petals are used to create the oil that goes into a potpourri of perfumes, creams, and other products that are for sale in local bazaars. No one knows how the roses originally appeared here, but it's said that a traveling merchant from Damascus, Syria, first brought them to the region hundreds of years ago, which gave the local rose its name: Damask.
Related Images
Shoreline near Tofino on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Wildflowers in bloom at Lost Dutchman State Park in Arizona
Mua Caves in the Ninh Bình province of Vietnam
A rider hunts with an eagle in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia
Cefalù on the Tyrrhenian coast in Sicily, Italy
An old farm in the Shetland Islands, Scotland
La Digue, an island in the Seychelles
Firefall at Horsetail Fall, Yosemite National Park, California
Bing Today Images
