Rize Province

Coordinates: 40°55′54″N 40°50′52″E / 40.93167°N 40.84778°E / 40.93167; 40.84778
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rize Province
Rize ili
Province
Pokut Yayla in Rize
Pokut Yayla in Rize
Location of the province within Turkey
Location of the province within Turkey
CountryTurkey
SeatRize
Government
 • Governorİhsan Selim Baydaş
Area
3,835 km2 (1,481 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)[1]
344,016
 • Density90/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Area code0464
Websitewww.rize.gov.tr

Rize Province (Turkish: 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. Its area is 3,835 km2,[2] and its population is 344,016 (2022).[1] The capital is the city of Rize. It was formerly known as Lazistan, however the designation of the term of Lazistan was officially banned in 1926.[3]

The province is home to

Hemshin, Turkish and Georgian communities.[4][5]

Etymology

The name comes from Greek ρίζα (riza), meaning "mountain slopes".[6] The Georgian, Laz, and Armenian names also have Greek origins: their names in respective order are Rize (რიზე), Rizini (რიზინი), and Rize (Ռիզե).

History

Pre-antiquity

Anzer plateau is one of the uplands of the province.

We have little information as to the prehistory of this region, which being covered in thick forest is difficult to excavate and reveals little. Colchis, which existed from the 13th to the 1st centuries BC, is regarded as an early proto-Georgian polity that may have reached this area.[citation needed]

Antiquity

According to

nineteenth Satrapy of Persia
.

The Achaemenid Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great, but following Alexander's death, a number of separate kingdoms were established in Anatolia, including Pontus, in the corner of the south-eastern Black Sea, ruled by Mithridates. Rize was brought into the Kingdom of Pontus by Pharnaces in 180 BC. The small number of Hellenistic Greek inscriptions that have been found in Pontus suggest that Greek culture did not substantially extend beyond the coastal cities and the court.[7] The kingdom was absorbed into the Roman Empire between 10 AD and 395 AD, when it passed to the Byzantines. By this time, writers such as Pliny and Arrian were describing the inhabitants as Laz.

Medieval era

A view from Ayder plateau

During the medieval era, the region was under Byzantine control, and was mainly populated by Greeks and indigenous Lazs. During the reign of the

Seljuk Turks, there was a larger influx of Armenians in the area, resulting in partial Armenization of the local Tzan population.[11]

With the Georgian intervention in Chaldia and

Bessarion, regarded the Trapezuntian Empire as being merely a Lazian border state.[14] Though Greek in higher culture, the rural areas of Trebizond empire appear to have been predominantly Laz in ethnic composition.[15] Laz family names, with hellenized
terminations, are noticeable in the records of the mediaeval empire of Trebizond.

In 1282, the kingdom of Imereti besieged Trebizond, however after the failed attempt to take the city, the Georgians occupied several provinces, and the Trebizontine province of Lazia threw off its allegiance to the king of the 'Iberian' and 'Lazian' tribes and united itself with the Georgian Kingdom of Imereti.

The Ottoman era

A general view of Rize city center

The Laz populated area was often contested by different Georgian principalities. Through the Battle of Murjakheti (1535), the Principality of Guria finally ensured control over the area until 1547, when it was conquered by resurgent Ottoman forces and reorganized into the Lazistan Sanjak as part of eyalet of Trabzon.

From the late-17th century onwards, the Ottoman administration built multiple bridges across the Fırtına River and its tributaries.

The province was a site of battles between Ottoman and

Caucasus Campaign of World War I, and was occupied by Russian forces in 1916–1918. It was returned to the Ottomans with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
in 1918.

Since 1924, Rize has been a province of the Republic of Turkey. Until tea plantations were established in the 1940s, the province was a poor area at the far end of the country, with only the Soviet Union beyond the Iron Curtain. Many generations of people in Rize left to look for jobs in Istanbul or overseas.

In Turkey

In September 1935, the third

Democrat Party.[19]

Life in Rize today

The city of Rize is a coastal town on a narrow strip of flat land between the mountains and the sea. Today, the area is wealthier, although there is a marked difference between the lifestyle of the people in the relatively wealthy city of Rize and those in the remote villages where wooden houses perch on the steep mountainside with the rain beating down. The province is known in Turkey for the production of Rize tea.[5]

Geography

A historical bridge over Hala Creek

Rize is located between the

tea producing region. In addition to tea, the region is also known for growing kiwi fruit. The province is largely rural and very scenic, containing many mountain valleys and elevated yaylas (meadows). The district of Çamlıhemşin is one of Turkey's most popular venues for trekking and outdoor holidays. Roads are scarce in some of the more remote regions, so electrical powered cable cars
have been installed to transport people and supplies into the mountains. Summers are cool (July average 22 °C) and winters are mild (January average 7 °C) with high levels of precipitation all year long.

The new Black Sea coast road has made Rize more accessible, but has drawn criticism for its negative effect on the region's wildlife. Since the early 2000s, Rize has seen an increase in visitors from outside the province, particularly tourist from urban areas. This increase in tourism has raised concerns among locals that the traditional way of life and the unblemished character of the natural surroundings is being endangered. The provincial governor, Enver Salihoglu (as of 2005) has stated his opposition to the expansion of the road network and has advocated a commercial focus on beekeeping, trout farming, and the growing of organic teas.[20]

Native plants include the Cherry Laurel (Turkish: taflan or karayemiş), the fruit of which is an edible small dark plum that leaves a dark stain on the mouth and teeth. In addition, the Bilberry, which are now being actively cultivated, can be found growing the region. Rize is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

Mountains

Ovit Plato is on the way to Ispir from Ikizdere, Rize, Turkey

Notable mountains[21]

Rivers

From east to the west

Districts

Rize province is divided into 12 districts, including the capital district Rize:

Geology

Part of the

Palaeozoic period. Valleys first appeared during the Cretaceous
period and have since expanded due to erosion.

Climate

A view Çayeli district and the Black Sea

The region's climate is characterized by relatively mild to warm temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The

Köppen Climate Classification subtypes for this climate are Cfa (Humid Subtropical Climate) and Cfb (Oceanic Climate).[22]

Culture

Cuisine

Traditional cuisine in the city quite rich and the anchovy forms the basic for many of the dishes peculiar to the region. Soups, salads, pilafs and even desserts are made of anchovy. Some of the local dishes are hamsi buğulama (boiled anchovy), hamsi stew, and kamsi köfte (anchovy meatballs). Lahana çorbası (cabbage soup), muhlama (made of cheese, cornmeal and butter) and pides (pita bread topped with various fillings) are also other local delicacies.[23]

Rize tea

Main article: Rize tea

Rize tea is a major agricultural product to the region and has changed the local economy. Rize Province is also one of the largest consumers of Rize tea too.[24]

The province of Rize has prided itself of being the largest tea producer within Turkey.[25] In 2021, the Rize Commerce Exchange started the construction of a seven-floor building in the shape of the traditional tulip-shaped tea glasses called ince belli, in hopes to boost local tourism.[25]

Folk dances and traditional costumes

Folk dancers perform

horon energetically when it is accompanied by kemenche. However this folk dance can also be accompanied by Tulum or kaval. Folk dancers wear traditional costumes while performing horon. Men wear shirt, vest, jacket, zipka (pants made of wool and gathered at knees) and black boots. On their jackets are silver embroideries, amulets, and hemayils with religion expressions put inside these small silver containers to br protected against evil's eye. On the other hand, women dancers wear colorful dresses and traditional hand painted head scarves including various motifs.[26]

Handicrafts

Rize offers a rich variety of traditional handicrafts and handmade souvenirs to visitors. Some of them include: copper works, wicker baskets, butter churns, woven socks, shoulder bags, and spoon made of

boxwood. Linen of Rize (Turkish: Rize Bezi) is a handwoven textile and is often used as part of the under layer of a dress.[27] Kemençe is a traditional 3-stringed string instrument which is made in this province.[27]

Places of interest

Pokut plateau, clouds above the mountains of Rize.

Sites in the province include:

Other buildings of note include:

See also

References

  1. ^
    TÜİK
    . Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  2. ^ "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  3. ^ Thys-Şenocak, Lucienne. Ottoman Women Builders. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006. Print.
  4. ^ "Turkey's charismatic pro-Islamic leader". 4 November 2002 – via BBC News.
  5. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  6. ^ Rize Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine article from Özhan Öztürk, Encyclopedia of Black Sea (Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük), 2005
  7. ^ "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica".
  8. ISBN 978-0-415-23726-0
    .
  9. ^ Hewsen, 47
  10. OCLC 921268078. The foundation of Hamshen, in about AD 790, came at the end of almost a century in which the fortunes of Armenians in Armenia had steadily declined, a period and a process that culminated in the transformation of the political organization of Armenia, a transformation to which the foundation of Hamshen itself contributed.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  11. ^ Simonian. "Hamshen Before Hemshin", pp. 21-22.
  12. ^ Mikaberidze, A. (2015). Historical dictionary of Georgia. 2nd ed. Lanham, MD, United States: ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD, p.634.
  13. ^ Thys-Şenocak, Lucienne. Ottoman Women Builders. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006.
  14. ^ Bryer 1967, 179.
  15. ^ Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Laz
  16. ^ a b c "Üçüncü Umumi Müfettişliği'nin Kurulması ve III. Umumî Müfettiş Tahsin Uzer'in Bazı Önemli Faaliyetleri". Dergipark. p. 2. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  17. ^ Üngör, Umut. "Young Turk social engineering : mass violence and the nation state in eastern Turkey, 1913- 1950" (PDF). University of Amsterdam. pp. 244–247. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  18. ISBN 978-1-317-09579-8
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-521-62096-3
    .
  20. ^ "How Green Is Their Valley" The Economist. 27 August – 2 September 2005
  21. ^ Öztürk, Özhan. "Rize". Kara Lahana. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008.
  22. ^ "Rize, Turkey Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase.
  23. ^ Traditional cuisine Archived 11 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ Yousuf, Ambreen (20 April 2021). "Tea culture in Turkey, Kashmir: Types, brewing, health benefits". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Turkey's tea capital Rize aims high with glass-shaped building". Daily Sabah. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  26. ^ People of Black Sea Region of Turkey Archived 10 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ a b "Rize". Bologna Course Package, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi. Retrieved 8 October 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rize Province.

40°55′54″N 40°50′52″E / 40.93167°N 40.84778°E / 40.93167; 40.84778

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