Bulgaria BulgariaKazanlak

- CountryBulgaria - ProvinceStara Zagora - Government MayorGalina Stoyanova - Elevation407 m (1,335 ft) - Population (Feb 2011) Total Time zone UTC/GMT +02:00 hours - Website

Kazanlak Kazanlak, formerly Kazanlık (Bulgarian: Казанлъ ̀ к, alternative transliterations include Kazanl ǎ k, Kazanlâk, Kazanluk) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the Rose Valley. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Kazanlak Municipality. The town is among the 15 biggest industrial centres in Bulgaria. During the first decade after the liberation of Bulgaria, in the 1880s the population of Kazanlak numbered about 9,000. Since then it started growing decade by decade, mostly because of the migrants from the rural areas and the surrounding smaller towns, reaching its peak in 1985 exceeding 60,000. After this time, the population has started decreasing rapidly in consequence of the poor economic situation in the Bulgarian provinces during the 1990s that leaded to a new migration in the direction of the country capital Sofia and abroad.

It is the center of rose oil extraction in Bulgaria and the oil-producing rose of Kazanlak is one of the most widely recognizable national symbols.

Kazanlak has a long, solid tradition in the area of culture and enlightenment. At the every beginning of the Revival, the populace of Kazanlak was already opening school and cultural reading centers — including the Pedagogical school of Kazanlak, which prepared teachers for the entire country. For many well- known Bulgarian artists and performers, this was the place where their physical and creative lives began.