Fındıklı (
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 ...
: ვიწე ''Vits'e'') is a town and district of
Rize Province
Rize Province ( tr, Rize ili) is a province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon and Artvin. The province of Erzurum is to the south. It was formerly known as Lazistan, the designation of the term of Lazistan was o ...
on 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, Rom ...
coast of Turkey, east of the city of
Rize
Rize (Greek: ρίζα, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian: რიზე,
, Ottoman Turkish: ريزه)
is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey.
Rize is a typically Turkish provincial capital w ...
.
Etymology
The town was formerly known as ''Vitze'' (Laz and Georgian: ''Vits'e''), which some claim means "twig" or "branch" in the
Laz language and was renamed Fındıklı ("place with hazelnuts" in
Turkish) after the hazelnuts grown in the town, although these have now mostly been replaced with tea.
Scholar
Özhan Öztürk
Özhan Öztürk (born 1968) is a Turkish writer and researcher. He wrote a Turkish Folklore Encyclopaedia and an encyclopaedic dictionary of the culture and folklore of the peoples of the Black Sea region of Turkey.
Works
* ''Karadeniz Ans ...
claims that the town's former and native name comes from the word ''vis'', meaning "town" in the now-extinct
Thracian language
The Thracian language () is an extinct and poorly attested language, spoken in ancient times in Southeast Europe by the Thracians. The linguistic affinities of the Thracian language are poorly understood, but it is generally agreed that it wa ...
and other Indo-European languages (Old Persian ''vith'',
Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...
''visa'',
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''vesah'',
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
''weihs'', etc.). Öztürk claims that Istanbul's old name Byzantion; the town of
Vize
Vize ( el, Βιζύη, bg, Виза) is a town and district of Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The district governor is Elif Canan Tuncer, and the mayor is Ercan Özalp ( CHP). According to the Turkish Statistical Institu ...
in Kırklareli Province in western
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
region of Turkey; the towns of Viçe, Visir, Aşağı Viçe, Arhavi (Arkeo + Vice, "old town"), Visera, and Vizera in the
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos may refer to:
* Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea)
* Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology
* Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...
region of Turkey (where Fındıklı is also located); the towns of Bizirne and Bizeri in the
Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...
region of Turkey; the towns of Visa, Visani, Viziru, and Vizireni in Romania; and the town of Vis in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
derive their names from the same origin.
Özhan Öztürk
Özhan Öztürk (born 1968) is a Turkish writer and researcher. He wrote a Turkish Folklore Encyclopaedia and an encyclopaedic dictionary of the culture and folklore of the peoples of the Black Sea region of Turkey.
Works
* ''Karadeniz Ans ...
Pontus: Antik Çağ’dan Günümüze Karadeniz’in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi
. Genesis Yayınları. Ankara, 2011. 2. Baskı p. 247-348.
Geography
Like most
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, Rom ...
districts, Fındıklı consists of a small strip of coast and a larger area of hills and mountains behind (which lead up into the
Kaçkar Mountains).
There is little flat land in Fındıklı and most of the population lives in two large valleys, the ''
Çağlayan'' (
Laz: აბუ ''Abu'') and the ''
Arılı'' (ფიცხალა ''Pitsxala''). The climate is typical of the Black Sea coast, six months of dark cloud, four months overcast, six weeks of light cloud and 19 days of sunshine, with light rain at some point during every one of the 365 days of the year. These conditions are ideal for the crops that drive the local economy, namely tea,
hazelnuts, and some other fruits. The town currently produces around 32,000 tons of tea and 750 tons of hazelnuts each year. Other produce include
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...
,
meat, eggs,
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
and fish, and the new development is the planting of
kiwi
Kiwi most commonly refers to:
* Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand
* Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders
* Kiwifruit, an edible berry
* Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency
Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...
fruit.
Fındıklı itself is a small market town of 9,980 people. There is little developed industry, and the younger generations regularly migrate away to jobs in larger cities.
The people are mostly ethnic
Laz.
History
See
Rize Province
Rize Province ( tr, Rize ili) is a province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon and Artvin. The province of Erzurum is to the south. It was formerly known as Lazistan, the designation of the term of Lazistan was o ...
for the history the area, once 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.
Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
i.e.
Lazica
Lazica ( ka, ეგრისი, ; lzz, ლაზიკა, ; grc-gre, Λαζική, ; fa, لازستان, ; hy, Եգեր, ) was the Latin name given to the territory of Colchis during the Roman/Byzantine period, from about the 1st centur ...
,
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
,
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 the
Empire of Trebizond, brought into the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1509, and briefly occupied by Russia at the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Twin towns
Fındıklı is
twinned with:
References
External links
District governor's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Findikli
Populated places in Rize Province
Populated coastal places in Turkey
Districts of Rize Province
Towns in Turkey
Laz settlements in Turkey