A Significant Location on the Black Sea: Rize
Rize is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District. Its population is 119,828. Rize is a typical Turkish provincial city with little in the way of nightlife or entertainment. Since the border with Georgia was opened in the early 1990s, the Black Sea coast road has been widened, and the town is much wealthier than it used to be.
Where you can visit? In Rize, you have two options: historical places or natural beauty. Rize is very rich in nature. You can do hiking, rafting, fishing, camping, and more activities, but you have to be careful because many wild animals live in the forests, such as bears, wolves, foxes, deer, and wild boars. Let’s continue with natural beauty. You can visit Fırtına River for rafting. Then you can visit Kaçkar Mountains National Park, Pokut, and Ayder plateaus. If you go hiking, do it in the mountains because climbing mountains allows you to discover abandoned places (like houses or mills), and you will witness amazing scenes.
Also, we can visit historical places. For example, Kız Kulesi and Rize Castle. Kız Kulesi is a medieval castle located on a small islet, 1 km west of the center of Pazar, Rize Province, Turkey. According to A. Bryer, it was built between the 13th and 14th centuries, during the time of the Trebizond Empire. According to other sources, the castle was built by the Genoese Prince.
Rize Castle is situated on a hill southwest of the city center and offers a panoramic view of the city. The castle consists of a citadel and the lower castle. It is believed that the citadel was built during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), and the lower castle dates back to the 13th century. Today, some of the ruined castle walls are buried under reinforced concrete buildings and streets. The castle walls in the southern part were restored in 1989.
In Rize, people earn money from tea and fishing. Also, Rize is the biggest tea producer in Turkey. That’s all for Rize; if you visit Rize, don’t forget this text.
