A unique but almost forgotten tradition once made the mountain village of Milikouri known far beyond Cyprus: the cultivation of the Damask rose and the production of rose essence and rose oil.

The Rosa damascena was more than simply a plant grown in the village.

Rose bushes were planted along the edges of vineyards as natural borders, helping to hold the soil in place, while their flowers provided families with an additional source of income.

According to researcher Anna Tselepou, rose production became particularly important from the spring of 1917.

Rose essence and rose oil were valuable raw materials for the perfume industry and helped put Milikouri on the map.

In 1919, the village established its first modern distillery. A second followed in 1930, when a rose production company was also established.

Cultivation expanded further in 1940 after a large area of government forest was granted to the village.

Production became more organised and Milikouri’s rose essence and oil began to reach markets elsewhere.

The village’s reputation grew with its roses and provided work and income for local families.

In 1963, the Rose Growers Cooperative Society was established, helping sustain the industry for several more years. But the tradition eventually declined.

Rose cultivation and production ceased, while the village gradually lost much of its population.

Today, Tselepou says, Milikouri has only a handful of permanent residents. The roses, however, remain.

Wild bushes still grow in parts of the village, surviving as reminders of a time when the crop supported families and helped give Milikouri a name of its own.

For Tselepou, the story is about more than a forgotten agricultural product.

It reflects the economic and cultural wealth that once existed in the village and the traditions that have since disappeared.

Words associated with the old trade, including Lambikos, Athoneron and Rhodostammon, have also survived.

And perhaps, along with those words and the wild rose bushes, there remains the hope that one day the scent of the Damask rose will once again fill Milikouri.