Ardeşen (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: Արտաշեն/Artashen, Laz and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

: არტაშენი/Artasheni or არდაშენი/Ardasheni) is a town and district of

Rize Province Rize Province ( tr, Rize ili) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon Province, Trabzon and Artvin Province, Artvin. The province of Erzurum Province, Erzurum is to the south. It was ...

in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

region of Turkey, along the coast road from the city of

Rize Rize (Greek language, Greek: ρίζα, Laz language, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian language, Georgian: რიზე, , Ottoman Turkish: ريزه) is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Rize ...

History

See

for the history of the area, at one time part of the

Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia (country), Georgia. Its population, the Colchians a ...

and

Lazika The LAZIKA ( ka, ლაზიკა) is a proposed Georgian Infantry fighting vehicle, developed by the Scientific Technical Center STC Delta and funded by the Georgian military. One of its main characteristics is the relatively thick armor compa ...

kingdoms,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

s and

Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...

and later the

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...

until their defeat in 1461 by the Ottoman Sultan

Mehmet II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...

. The origins of the name is believed to be Armenian coming from Ard- meaning field and -Shen meaning village. Also, it might be Lazuri Arteşeni coming from Ar-meaning one, te- meaning light, şeni- meaning for, Arteşeni in lazuri meaning "for a few light". It is logical because of rainy and cloudy weather of the area.

Geography

Ardeşen is sandwiched between sea and mountain, with of

coastline, while most of the district is hill and mountain, extending inland, up to the Altıparmak hills and then on to

Çamlıhemşin Çamlıhemşin, formerly Vice, ( lzz, ვიჯა ''Vija'' or ვიჯე ''Vije'' ; ka, ვიჯა ''Vija'' ) is a small town and district of Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. With its mountains and valleys in all shades of ...

and the Kaçkar

Lazistan Lazistan ( lzz, ლაზონა, Lazona; ka, ლაზეთი, Lazeti, or ჭანეთი ''Ç'aneti''; ota, لازستان, Lazistān) is a historical and cultural region of the Caucasus and Anatolia, traditionally inhabited by the Laz ...

mountains. There is plenty of rainfall but little land flat enough for planting anything except for tea, and life is hard in these wet highlands. The highland villages are remote, and reaching them with roads, cables and other infrastructure is very challenging. This was even more the case before tea planting began, when successive generations would migrate away from the area to jobs in Turkey's larger cities or abroad. 10% of the land is used for tea growing, other than is there is little agriculture except gardening for local consumption. The first tea-processing factory was opened in 1947, other industry includes sawmills and furniture workshops. The industrial development is in the town of Ardeşen itself, which is on the coast near the mouth of the Fırtına River. Ardeşen has a lot of beautiful public buildings and apartment blocks. The busy coast road through Ardeşen leads up to Turkey's border with

Georgia (country) Georgia (, ; ) is a transcontinental country at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia to the north and northeast, by Turkey to the southwest ...

. The cuisine is like the typical Turkish menu, but there are a lot of special foods typical for the region like minci / cökelek or muhlama to mention only some of the rich kitchen of Ardeşen . Ardeşen has some local radio, TV and newspapers, like Ardeşen'in Sesi. The income from tea growing has brought better amenities to Ardeşen but the traditional rural lifestyle persists; many of the people in the countryside are ethnic Laz and the older generations in particular continue to speak the

Laz language The Laz language (; ka, ლაზური ენა/ჭანური ენა, tr; tr, Lazca, tr) is a Kartvelian language spoken by the Laz people on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. In 2007, it was estimated that there were arou ...

although their traditional clothing has disappeared with the ban on growing hemp. However education is quite successful with literacy rates of 97% among men and 89% among women. The people of Ardeşen have a reputation for their love of firearms, most people carry them and home-made small arms are a thriving trade, (to such an extent that in 1991 the state established a factory here to produce them legally and try and bring the industry under control ). Even the municipality logo features a picture of a mosque and a revolver.

Climate

Ardeşen has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfb'').

Sport

The

Ardeşen GSK Ardeşen GSK ( tr, Ardeşen Gençlik ve Spor Kulübü) is a women's handball club from Ardeşen in Rize Province playing in the Turkish Super League. Founded in 2008, the team play their home matches in the Ardeşen RTEÜ MYO Hall. Club chairman ...

, a women's handball club, play in the

Turkish Women's Handball Super League The Turkish Women's Handball Super League ( tr, Türkiye Kadınlar Hentbol Süper Ligi) is the top professional league for Turkish women's handball clubs. It is administered by the Turkey Handball Federation, and the winners are recognized as Tu ...

Places of interest

* Fırtına Deresi, a river running down from the Kaçkars, is used for rafting. *Dutxe(Tunca), where the 'formulaz' traditional car races take place.

References

External links

District governor's official website

Ardeşen municipality's official website

and more photos

Lazuri - information on the Laz language and culture

Ardeşenim - General local site on the district
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardesen Populated places in Rize Province Black Sea port cities and towns in Turkey Fishing communities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey Laz settlements in Turkey