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Rize is a province of north-east Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast
between Trabzon and Artvin. Its capital is the city of Rize.
Rize is on the north Side of the range of mountains that run along the
Black Sea coast. Overlooking the sea this is the wettest corner of
Turkey and Rize is the country's largest producer of tea. The province
is mainly rural and very attractive with its mountain valleys and
elevated yaylas (meadows). The district of Çamlıhemşin in particular is
one of Turkey's most popular venues for trekking holidays. Within
remote areas, roads are scarce and electrically powered cable cars are
used to transport people and supplies into the mountains. As well as
tea, nowadays kiwi fruit are grown here too. Summers are cool (July
average 22°C), winters are warm (January average 7°C) and it is wet all
year round.
The province is home to a community of Laz people and Hamsheni Armenians.
The new Black Sea coast road is making Rize more accessible, while
drawing criticism for its effect on the wildlife of the coast, and from
the early 2000s, Rize has seen an increase in visitors from outside the
province, particularly those seeking to escape into the countryside.
This increased tourism has raised concerns among locals that the
traditional way of life and the unblemished character of the natural
surroundings is under threat. 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.
Native plants include: the Cherry Laurel (Turkish taflan or
karamyemiş), the fruit of which is an edible small dark plum which
leaves a dark stain on the mouth and teeth; bilberry which are now
being actively cultivated; and tea is not native of course but grows
here very well and of the greatest pleasures in Rize is to enjoy a
glass of the local brew made from mountain spring water.
History
Ancient history
We have little information as to the prehistory of this region, which
being covered in thick forest is difficult to excavate and reveals
little. The earliest records we have are of the Kulku or Kulha, an
Asian community speaking a glutinous language, the name being carved
into a monument left by the Urartu king Sardur II, who conquered the
area for his kingdom (765-735 BC).
Then in 714BC a tribe of Cimmerians came to settle by the Çoruh River,
fleeing as their homeland in the Caucasus was overrun by the Saka
branch of the Scythians. The Cimmerians spread throughout Anatolia and
still today there are many places named Kemer as a record of their
presence, including some villages in Rize. The Saka meanwhile spread
westwards into eastern Europe and in 680BC defeated the last of the
Cimmerians in Georgia (country), but they themselves were overturned by
the Medes, who murdered the Saka King Madova in 626BC. Following the
departure of the Saka the area was occupied by various tribes of Turks
and Georgians.
Antiquity
According to Pliny, from 670BC onwards the Aegean Ancient Greek
community of Miletus established a series of trading posts along the
Black Sea coast, one of these was Rize. Although this colony was always
vulnerable to attacks from the Medes until the Persian armies were
defeated by Alexander the Great. Following the death of Alexander a
number of separate were kingdoms were established in Anatolia including
Bithynia and Cappadoccia and in this corner of the eastern Black Sea,
Pontus. Rize was brought into the Kingdom of Pontus by Pharnaces in
180BC.
The kingdom was absorbed into the Roman Empire between 10AD and 395AD,
when it passed to the Byzantines. By this time writers including Pliny
the Elder and the Roman adventurer Arrian were describing the
inhabitants as Laz.
The high country above Rize however was always in flux and as late as
626 AD a tribe of Scythians, having been moved from their settlements
further east by the Persians, came to settle in the area that is
today's district of Hemsin.
Large number of Turkish peoples began to arrive in the 11th century,
following the defeat of the Byzantines at the Battle of Malazgirt, and
the Çoruh River was incorporated into one of the Anatolian Turkish
Beyliks following the defeat of the Georgian Kingdom at the siege of
Posof in 1080.
Large numbers of Turks coming to settle along the coast, including a
large influx of Kipchak Turks. However, the area was recaptured by the
Byzantines in 1098 during the Crusades and later following the sack of
Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade of 1204, the Byzantine Imperial
family itself removed to nearby Trabzon establishing the Empire of
Trebizond, of which Rize was part.
However, the area had been largely settled by Turks and this community remained, the Byzantines merely keeping a base in Rize.
The Turkish era
The Turks in the area were from various tribes in Anatolia, all under
the Seljuk umbrella but with varying degrees of loyalty and
contentment; there were numerous rebellions and uprisings. This era
ended when the Empire of Trebizond began paying tribute to the Ottoman
Empire in 1456 and then the Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmet II
entered Trabzon in 1461. Rize fell in 1470, the last gasp of the Roman
Empire. From 1924 onwards Rize has been a province of the Republic of
Turkey. Slowly the Greek names of the villages and districts are being
replaced with Turkish (Pilihoz is now Dumankaya, Mapavri is Çayeli
etc.). However the old names are still in common usage, especially
among the older generations, and can be seen on shop signs, taxi ranks
and elesewhere, while other names from the Pontus era (such as Askoroz,
Peripol and of course Rize itself) are still in use.
Until tea was planted here in the 1940's this was a poor area at the
far end of the country, with only the Soviet Union beyond the Iron
Curtain. Many generations of Rize people left to look for jobs in
Istanbul or overseas.
Life in Rize today
The city of Rize itself is a quiet country town on the coast, 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.
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