Journey to our hometown. Nature and animals.

After 1200 kilometers and 15 hours of driving, we came to the village where Cansu was born. Rize - Turkey. We fed stray cats and stray dogs wherever we stopped during this journey. When we came to our village, the whole village was covered with snow. We will share beautiful images from our village in the coming days. Waterfall. Castle. Forest. Snow. Nature. And animals of course. #adorablepaws #travel #nature

Located in the East Black Sea Region, Rize carries the most characteristic features of the region. It separates from other regions of Anatolia with its unique cultural structure, as well as its geographical features. With its steep slope valleys, peaks-reachable mountains, glacial lakes, all tones of green plateaus, historical bridges and castles, strong flowing streams, it is an amazing tourism spot.

The history Rize
There is limited information about Rize in prehistoric times. Thanks to its large woods covering the city, almost no archeological artifacts could have been found until now. In Greek, the word “Rhisos” means “rice”. In Romaic, it transforms into “Rıza”, meaning piedmont. In Ottoman Turkish, “Rize” means “small crumb”.

The very first known hosts of the Rize region are Asia-rooted tribes. These tribes used to make animal husbandry and agriculture. About BC 800, Cimmerians invaded the East Black Sea Region, including Rize.

During the war between Cimmerians and Sakas, Sakas had to migrate from their lands. That migration resulted in a Turkish tribe called Kalaç settled in Rize.

The Roman traveler Pilinus (AC 23-79) states in his books that a tribe called Laz’oi lives in the region and they rule coast side of the area. Today, this tribe is well-known in Turkey as Lazlar.

From AC 10 to 395, the region has been ruled by Romans. After 395, Byzantines took the wheel and ruled until 1204. In 1204, Greeks of Trabzon founded the Pontus Greek State, including both Trabzon and Rize.

Until 1461, Pontus Greek State reigned the region and later on, Mehmet the Conquerer came and conquered these lands. Until 1877, Rize was only a district of Lazistan region of Ottoman Empire. In 1877, Rize became a city.

The city of Rize today
Rize is raising its tourism potential day by day where local and foreign tourists flocks in summer and spring. Rize has a warm weather all year, which is the most rainy city in Turkey. People of Rize used to go up to plateaus and live there all summer, since it becomes too hot and plateaus are cool enough to spend summer. Almost half of the city is covered with woods, including some special species. Rize holds the 25% of woods of Turkey in its borders.

Since the city gets too much rain every year, most of the agricultural area is made of tea fields. Tea growing is the most important economy in Rize. Special organic tea growing is being made in the city, including black, green and white tea. The tea of Rize is imported more than 100 countries and it contributes to the economy of Turkish Republic. Hazelnut is the most important that is grown in Rize after tea. Nearly 70% of the people is making agriculture in Rize. Industry in Rize is based on tea producing factories.