Rize Province () is a province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon Province and Artvin Province. The province of Erzurum Province is to the south. Its area is 3,835 km2,[Thys-Şenocak, Lucienne. Ottoman Women Builders. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006. Print.]
The province is home to Turkish people, Laz people, Hemshin peoples and Georgians communities.
Etymology
The name comes from
Greek language ρίζα (riza), meaning "mountain slopes".
[ Rize article from Özhan Öztürk, Encyclopedia of Black Sea ( Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük), 2005] The Georgian,
Laz language, and Armenian names respectively are
Rize (რიზე),
Rizini (რიზინი), and
Rize (Ռիզե).
History
Medieval era
During the medieval era, the region was under Byzantine control, and was mainly populated by Greeks and indigenous Lazs. During the reign of the Byzantine emperor
Justinian I ( 527–565), the tribes of the interior, called
Sanni or
Macrones, the ancestors of modern Laz people, were subdued,
Christianization and brought to central rule.
Locals began to have closer contact with the Greeks and acquired various Hellenic cultural traits, including in some cases the language. Locals were under nominal Byzantine
suzerainty in the theme of
Chaldia, with its capital at
Trabzon, governed by native semi-autonomous rulers, like the
Gabras family.
[Hewsen, 47] In 790 AD, Armenians fleeing from the Arab invasion of Armenia settled in Hemshin and established the Principality of Hamamshen.
Following the invasion of the
Seljuq dynasty, there was a larger influx of
Armenians in the area, resulting in partial Armenization of the local Tzan population.
[Simonian. "Hamshen Before Hemshin", pp. 21-22.]
With the Georgian intervention in Chaldia and Fourth Crusade in 1204, the Empire of Trebizond was established along the southeastern coast of the Black Sea, populated by a large Lazian-speaking population.[Mikaberidze, A. (2015). Historical dictionary of Georgia. 2nd ed. Lanham, MD, United States: ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD, p.634.] In the eastern part of the same empire, an autonomous coastal theme of Greater Lazia was established.[Thys-Şenocak, Lucienne. Ottoman Women Builders. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006.] Byzantine authors, such as Pachymeres, and to some extent Trapezuntines such as Lazaropoulos and Bessarion, regarded the Trapezuntian Empire as being merely a Lazian border state.[Bryer 1967, 179.] Though Greek in higher culture, the rural areas of Trebizond empire appear to have been predominantly Laz in ethnic composition.[ Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Laz] Laz family names, with Hellenization 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
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 Empire forces and reorganized into the
Lazistan Sanjak as part of
eyalet of
Trebizond Eyalet.
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 Russian Empire armies during the 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 Inspectorate General (
Umumi Müfettişlik, UM) was created, to which the Rize province was included.
Its establishment was based on the Law 1164 from June 1927,
which was passed in order to
Turkification the population.
The third UM spanned across the provinces of
Erzurum Province,
Artvin Province, Rize,
Trabzon Province,
Kars Province, Gümüşhane, Erzincan and Ağrı. It was governed by an Inspector General seated in the city of
Erzurum.
The Inspectorate General was dissolved in 1952 during the government of the Democrat Party.
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.
Geography
Rize is located between the
Pontic Mountains and the
Black Sea. It is considered to be the "wettest" corner of Turkey and is the country's main
Turkish 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
Aerial tramway 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.["How Green Is Their Valley" The Economist. 27 August – 2 September 2005]
Native plants include the Cherry Laurel (), 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
Notable mountains
-
Kaçkar (3.937 m)
-
Barut (3.251 m)
-
Ziglat (3.511 m)
-
Verçenik (3.711 m)
-
Hipot (3.560 m)
Rivers
From east to the west
-
Fındıklı Deresi
-
Büyükdere
-
Pazar Suyu
-
Karadere
-
İyidere
Districts
Rize province is divided into 12 districts, including the capital district Rize:
-
Ardeşen
-
Çamlıhemşin
-
Çayeli
-
Derepazarı
-
Fındıklı
-
Güneysu
-
Hemşin
-
İkizdere
-
İyidere
-
Kalkandere
-
Pazar
-
Rize District
Geology
Part of the
Pontic Mountains (Eastern Black Sea Mts.), Rize was formed in the
Palaeozoic period. Valleys first appeared during the
Cretaceous period and have since expanded due to erosion.
Climate
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).
Culture
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.
The province of Rize has prided itself of being the largest tea producer within Turkey.
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,
, and
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.
[ People of Black Sea Region of Turkey ]
Handicrafts
Rize offers 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.
Kemençe is a traditional 3-stringed string instrument which is made in this province.
Notable sites
Sites in the province include:
-
Ayder - A yayla (high meadow) area
-
Amlakit Plateau
-
Ovit - mountain pass
-
Zilkale, a bell tower near the village of Şenköy in the district of Çamlıhemşin
-
Fırtına River bridges
See also
External links
