The palace’s rose water

The Gülhane of Edirne Palace had both a rose garden and a building where rose water was made; at the Gülhane in Topkapı, too, rose water was made from roses grown in the palace. The 15th-century medical book Kemaliye recommends rubbing rose powder on the damp neck after the hammam. In the Ottoman period, rose oil also had a place in training to memorize the Quran (hafızlık).

Source: Ayşe Esra Güler, Sevdenur Karataş, “Tarihin Önemli Sırrı: Gül, Gül Yağı ve Gülsuyu”, Lokman Hekim Dergisi, XI. Türk Eczacılık Tarihi Toplantısı bildirileri, 2014 (Güler and Karataş, Lokman Hekim Dergisi, 2014). This is a folk record, not a treatment recommendation.