The rose gardens in Jebel Akhdar are laid out, not on the mountain’s plateau itself but cascade down precipitous mountain slopes.

Each field has been laboriously created over the centuries. Natural stones that were split away from the solid slopes of the mountain have been used to create the walls.

Soil from the valleys below or the few depressions on the plateau where rainfall creates a build up of sediment, has been used to develop a fertile plot of land behind each wall.

With such effort, it’s not surprising that the fields on the terraces are small, often no more than a few square meters. The reason for this intense labour is that the water springs on the  mountain are located on the cliff face and by using a falaj, a man-made water channel, the water itself can also be made to cascade down, into each field on the rock face.


For some of the people harvesting the rose petals, their mini factory is just a short walk up a few terraces into the village; for others a drive in a truck of several kilometres may be needed.

As soon as the roses reach the rose water production point they are laid out on a cloth and sprinkled with water to maintain their freshness.