Flax growing and processing

Flax is the oldest fibre crop in the Bulgarian lands and played an important economic role as early as the First Bulgarian Empire. During that period, growing flax for textile production was of considerable importance.

Demand for linen increased in the eighteenth century, and Bulgarian merchants exported large quantities to destinations including Transylvania and other parts of the Balkans. In the Batak region and other areas of the Rhodopes, flax became the principal fibre crop and made a substantial contribution over a long period. Batak, already known during the Bulgarian National Revival, practised flax growing and processing extensively as a major economic activity alongside logging and woodworking.

According to more recent historical research, flax production was closely connected with the development of aba tailoring, a craft found in many settlements in the Rhodopes and Sredna Gora region, as well as in Plovdiv and Pazardzhik. Aba tailors used large amounts of linen thread to make woollen clothing. For many years, growing and processing flax brought substantial income to the people of Batak, supplementing their earnings from logging and woodworking. Flax thus became an important factor in the region's economic development. Demand for flax thread declined with the arrival of cheaper textiles such as cotton. After the Liberation, every household grew flax. In 1959, the land was collectivised and it was no longer possible to grow flax for personal use. The craft consequently declined.