Kız Kulesi is a medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

located on small islet, 1 km west of the center of Pazar,

Rize Province Rize Province () is a province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon and Artvin. The province of Erzurum is to the south. Its area is 3,835 km2, and its population is 344,016 (2022). The capital is the city of R ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. According to A. Bryer it was built between 13th to 14th centuries, during the time of the

Trebizond Empire The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was one of the three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the Pontus (region), Pontus, or far northeast ...

. According to another sources castle was built by Genoese, as a summer residence for the daughter of a Genoese prince. Local Laz tradition claims that the castle belonged to Queen

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr , ; 1160 – 18 January 1213) queen regnant, reigned as the List of monarchs of Georgia#Kings of unified Georgia (1008–1490), Queen of Kingdom of Georgia, Georgia from 1184 to 1213, ...

,KIPSHIDZE, I. (1939). Textes Tchanes (Lazes). Édition de la Filiale Géorgienne de l'Académie des Sciences de l'URSS, Tbilisi (in Georgian). who founded the Empire of Trebizond on the Black Sea coast in 1204 after the Georgian expedition to Chaldia.

Architecture

The interior plan of the tower is about 7 x 7 m. The walls are about 1.5 m thick at ground level. They are faced both in the interior and exterior with regular courses of rectangular blocks. The gateway is in the west wall.

Gallery

File:Kız Kulesi Rize Pazar.jpg, Kız Kulesi being restored in 2013. File:Kizkalesi.jpg, Kız Kulesi in Pazar.

References

External links

RİZE PAZAR CİHA KALESİ VE KIZ KULESİ
{{Castles in Turkey Buildings and structures in Rize Province Empire of Trebizond Castles in Turkey Tourist attractions in Rize Province Pazar, Rize