Rize (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ρίζα, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian: რიზე, ,

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed exten ...

: ريزه) is the capital city 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 ...

in the eastern part of the

Black Sea Region The Black Sea Region ( tr, Karadeniz Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Samsun. Other big cities are Trabzon, Ordu, Tokat, Giresun, Rize, Amasya and Sinop. It is bordered by the Marmara Region ...

of Turkey. Rize is a typically Turkish provincial capital with little in the way of nightlife or entertainment. However the border with Georgia has been open since the early 1990s, the Black Sea coast road has been widened and the town is much wealthier than it used to be. Current Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan's family has its roots in Rize and the local university is named after him. Rize is linked by road with

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

(41 miles 6 kmwest), Hopa (55 miles 8 kmeast on the Georgian border, and

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses t ...

(south).

Rize–Artvin Airport Rize–Artvin Airport ( tr, Rize–Artvin Havalimanı) is an airport off the coast of in Rize Province, northeastern Turkey. Overview It opened for commercial business on 14 May 2022, with Turkish Airlines, soon followed on the same day with An ...

started operating in 2022.

Name

The name comes from

(riza) or Ριζαίον (Rizaion), meaning "mountain slopes" ( in Greek means root). In modern times, its Greek name was usually Ριζούντα (Rizunda). Its Latin forms are Rhizus and Rhizaeum, the latter of which is used in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

s as the name of

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of the town, which was once part of the late

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Pontus Polemoniacus).

History

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

was the first writer to mention Rize. In his

Periplus of the Euxine Sea The ''Periplus of the Euxine Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου, ', modern Greek transliteration ', la, Periplus Ponti Euxini) is a periplus or guidebook detailing the destinations visitors encounter when tr ...

, he described it as a city founded at the mouth of the river of the same name, the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

and

Byzantine 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 Constantin ...

῾Ρίζιος ποταμός.Dated to 130–131AD and written as a letter to Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman '' municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispan ...

, the work records how its author, the governor of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

, made a tour of the Eastern

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, ...

territories that formed part of his jurisdiction, first visiting the Roman Empire's Eastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

n frontier garrisons before pushing on to the Black Sea coast in the

(Trebizond) region. The city of Rize formed part of the historic Georgian province of Chaneti ( ka, ჭანეთი). From 1547, Chaneti province was incorporated 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) ...

and became a part of the '' sancak'' of Lazistan. The city was claimed by the short-lived

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...

between 1918 and 1920. On the basis of the 1921

Treaty of Kars The Treaty of Kars ( tr, Kars Antlaşması, rus, Карсский договор, Karskii dogovor, ka, ყარსის ხელშეკრულება, hy, Կարսի պայմանագիր, az, Qars müqaviləsi) was a treaty that est ...

, Soviet Russia granted Rize to Turkey along with the other territories of

Artvin Artvin ( Laz and ; hy, Արտուին, translit=Artuin) is a city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam. It is a former bishopric and (vacant) Armenia ...

Ardahan Ardahan (, ka, არტაანი, tr, hy, Արդահան, translit=Ardahan Russian: Ардаган) is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border. It is the capital of Ardahan Province. History Ancient and medieval Ardahan ...

, and Hopa ( ka, ხუფათი). File:Rizunda.jpg, Rize in 1890s File:Rize-postakarti-osmanli.jpg, Rize, 1910s, Ottoman-era postcard

Geography

The city is built around a small bay on the

coast, on a narrow strip of flat land between the sea and the mountains behind. The coastal strip is being expanded with landfill and the city is expanding up the steep hillsides away from the coast. Rize is probably best known for its

black tea Black tea, also translated to red tea in various East Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from ...

which was introduced to the region in the 1940s and 1950s, changing the destiny of a region which was until then desperately poor. The local tea research institute was founded in 1958 and other tea gardens can be seen all around the town. Tea is even planted in local gardens. Rize is a centre for processing and shipping locally grown

Rize Tea Rize tea or ''Rize çayı'' is the black tea used for Turkish tea. Produced in Rize Province of Turkey which has a mild climate with high precipitation and fertile soil, when brewed it is mahogany in color. In addition to being consumed at home, ...

. More recently

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus '' Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwifr ...

plants have also been grown in Rize. Fishing remains another important local source of income. Tourism to destinations in and around Rize is growing in importance. File:Aşağı Ceymakçur 01.jpg, Kaçkar Mountains National Park File:Pokut Yaylası Rize.JPG, Pokut Yayla is a popular tourism destination File:Tar Creek Waterfall View.jpg, Tar Creek Waterfall File:Entrance of the Castle of Rize, Rize, Turkey.JPG, Entrance to Rize Castle

Climate

Rize has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen: ''Cfa'', Trewartha: ''Cf''). and is vulnerable to storms coming off the Black Sea. However, as any mountainous region of Turkey, it is rich in climatic variety. The climate turns

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places *Oceanic, British Columbia Oceanic is an unincorporated set ...

(''Cfb'') on the hillsides, continental (''Dfb/Dc'') and subarctic (''Dfc/Eo'') on the mountain slopes and in the yaylas, the highlands and highland plateaus. When the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

was being sreated, the city centre had a borderline oceanic-humid subtropical climate, falling just under the threshold for the hottest month of the year, yet

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

and

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in a broader sense also includes ...

have contributed to its being classified as humid subtropical in recent decades. The city's climate is defined by mild temperate conditions, with warm summers, cool winters and heavy rainfall year-round with a maximum in late autumn (October to December). The city has relatively few sunshine hours, lower than many stereotypically cloudy locations in Western Europe. Snowfall is occasional, but can be very heavy once it starts. The water temperature, typical for the Black Sea coast, is never too warm or cold, fluctuating between throughout the year.

Economy and produce

Historically, Rize grew

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

s. However, weather destroyed the crops in the early 20th century, and the industry declined. The area also produced small amounts of

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy u ...

. Rize's economic structure is primarily based on its geographic location since it is in a very mountainous location, making industrial development impractical. Given the lack of rail transit, most goods have to travel by truck or ship, which makes exporting and importing difficult. Rize's primary trading partner is

, the most developed city of the northeast Black Sea region. Rize's main exports are agriculturally based; tea and kiwifruit are among its most popular commodities.

Education

Rize University was founded in 2006. Its name was changed to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University in 2011.

Culture

Rize Castle is a partly ruined medieval castle to the southwest of the city centre.

Sports

Rize's sports venues include

Rize Atatürk Stadium Rize Atatürk Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Rize, Turkey. It was used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' no ...

, Yeni Rize Şehir Stadı and Rize Sports Complex consisting of

Rize Sports Hall Rize Sports Hall ( tr, Rize Spor Salonu) is a multi-sport indoor arena in Rize Rize (Greek language, Greek: ρίζα, Laz language, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian language, Georgian: რიზე, , Ottoman Turkish: ريزه) is the capital c ...

and Rize Indoor Swimming Pool. The football team of Çaykur Rizespor play in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

. Pazarspor football team compete in the

TFF Third League TFF 3. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Third League) is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Football League.Turkish Third Footb ...

Notable people

Sezen Aksu Sezen Aksu (; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and "''Minik Serçe''" ("Little Spa ...

– singer and songwriter, born in Izmir but whose family comes from Rize *

Kazım Ayvaz Kazım Ayvaz (March 10, 1938 – January 18, 2020) was a Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the Lightweight class and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1964 Olympics and became World champion twic ...

– Olympic medalist and world champion in wrestling *

Zafer Biryol Zafer Biryol (born 2 October 1976) is a retired Turkish professional footballer. He last played as a forward for Anadolu Selçukluspor. He is 1.82 meters tall and weighs 75 kilograms. Club career He was the Super Lig's top scorer in the 2004� ...

– football player *

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

– politician, president of Turkey. * Nikos Kapetanidis – journalist and newspaper publisher * Temel Kotil – aeronautical engineer and CEO of Turkish Airlines * Tuncay Mataracı (born 1935) – convicted former government minister *

Mehmet Akif Pirim Mehmet Akif Pirim (September 17, 1968, Rize, Turkey), is a former Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the featherweight class (62 kg), and currently a trainer. He won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling ...

– Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling * Tarkan – Singer * Köksal Toptan – politician *

İsmail Türüt İsmail Türüt (born 8 June 1965) is a Turkish folk music artist from the Black Sea Region. "Plan Yapmayın Plan" controversy His 2007 album, Dünya Tatlısı, contains a song named ''Plans, don't make any plans'' ( tr, Plan Yapmayın Plan), w ...

– singer of folk music of the Black Sea region *

Yaşar Yılmaz Yaşar Yılmaz (born 4 March 1930) is a Turkish former Olympian sports wrestler in the Bantamweight and Featherweight division of Men's Greco-Roman style. He won three times the silver medal at the FILA Wrestling World Championships in 1955, 19 ...

– wrestler * Mesut Yılmaz – politician and former prime minister *

Sinan Özen Sinan Özen (; b. 1 March 1964, Çayeli, Rize) is a Turkish singer, composer and actor. Life and career Sinan Özen was born on March 1, 1964, in the Çayeli district of Rize. His family moved to İzmit when he was young and he spent a few years o ...

- Singer

Population

Notes

References

* ncyclopedic Dictionary of Black Sea 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. Istanbul.

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Rize Province Roman towns and cities in Turkey Black Sea port cities and towns in Turkey Fishing communities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey Districts of Rize Province