So are there really exotic black roses that only grow in a remote village in Turkey?

As with many online hoaxes, the story of the black roses of Halfeti existence started on various social media platforms.

That First Sighting

The first appearance of these rare black roses on Social Media was on the Facebook page of Higher Perspective. The post showed a video of a rare black rose that grows naturally in Turkey. Upon further research this rumor has been circulating since at least 2013 when RocketNews24 published a story about a rare black rose:

"Until now, we never really understood what all the fuss was about roses. Women seem to love them, and men seem to spend inordinate amounts of money to purchase them for their sweethearts. But now that we’ve seen the pitch-black Turkish Halfeti Rose, we’re starting to understand that roses can be not only dangerous, kind of smelly and enchanting all at the same time, they can also be the perfect centerpiece of the most hardcore heavy metal album or low fantasy book cover of all time.

 

These roses, which appear perfectly black to the naked eye, are said to grow only in small quantities and only in the tiny village of Halfeti, Turkey. The unique soil conditions and pH levels of groundwater in the area – which seeps in from the Euphrates – create the deep crimson red color of the rose, which is, for all intents and purposes, solid black unless inspected very closely."

 

The origin of the story of mystical black roses can be linked to the Japanese-language blog Karapaia. This blog in turn cited a 2007 story published by Todays Zaman, which based its story off a local news article published in Anatolia. Somewhere in this this mess the rumor that black roses occur naturally in Turkey was born.

What is Actually in Halfeti, and How Do I Get There?

If you asked someone from Turkey where the historic town of Halfeti is they would probably look at you funny, laugh, and walk away. That's because the city is submerged. This is because the city was flooded due to the Turkish government's program that sought to harness the nearby Euphrates river for agricultural and energy purposes.

What is interesting is that the old Halfeti can still be toured by boat. During the tour houses made of stone, trees, mosque minarets, and remnants of the old castle and palace can be seen.

Sadly the only thing missing are the mythical black roses....