RIZE TURKEY

Rize

Zil Castle

Zil Castle is one of the most distinctive monuments of the region. 15kilometers south of the district centre, it is established on the westernslopes of Fırtına Stream. The rock mass on which the castle wasbuilt is 750 meters above sea level and 100 meters above the stream bed.The castle comprises of outer walls, middle walls andthe inner citadel. A pathway from the northwest leads to the doorof the outer walls. There are three important buildings within the middlewalls: the guard house, the chapel and the main tower. The beam traces andholes on the wall shows that the tower used to have four floors.

The walls have arched windows on the eastern side, and loophole holes onother sides. The top of the tower used to be a covered terrace. Zil Castle,like other castlesas Kale-i Bala, Ciha Castle and KızCastles, provided the security of the region and the important medievalcaravan route reaching İspir. The castle was used also after theconquest of the Ottomans. Two cannons found in the castle areexhibited in Trabzon Museum. The building which has a beautiful viewoverlooking the valley, has undergone a recent restoration.

Rize Castle

Located in the southwest of the city centre, the castle is built on an areaof 480 m². It consists of inner and lower castles.The inner castle is believed to be built under the reign of Justinian I (527-565)and the lower castle was built in the 13th century. The castle, built on anatural hill of 150 meters high, does not have a proper plan. The innerfortress is made of cut stone and rubble stone, has five towers and asemi-circular plan, and its entrance door is in the east. The lower castle issurrounded by walls that extend from the inner castle towards the northeast andnorthwest directions and reach the sea.

Ciha Castle

Located in the east of Hemşin Creek, Ciha Castle hasa circular plan. The stonework of the walls is not uniform. The entrance gateof the castle is in the north east and supported by two towers. In the middleof it, there is another tower with a circle plan. It is thought to be used forsurveillance and communication purposes.

Maiden’s Castle

It is located on a small peninsula in the west of Pazar district centre.The castle built on a rocky ground has no connection with the land. The stonemasonry of the walls is strikingly neat. Although the exact date of itsconstruction is unknown, it is thought to have been used in the 13th or 14thcenturies. Today it stands with a

single watch tower.

Atatürk House Museum (Mataracı Mehmet EfendiMansion)

Built in 1921, it is located in Müftü neighbourhood of the city centre. Itis a three-storey mansion with an interior hall plan. Atatürk came to Rizeduring his country trip in 1924 and stayed in this house as the guest of MehmetMataracı. The Mataracı family donated the building to the Governorship ofRize. The renovated building exhibits today some belongings of MustafaKemal Atatürk as well as some ethnographic artefacts.

Rize Ethnographic Museum

Located in Piriçelebi neighbourhood, “Sarı Ev” (the Yellow House) isa 19-century example of civil architecture built with traditional buildingmethods and materials. Today, the museum exhibits a total of 1179 artefactsincluding 76 archaeologic artefacts, 594 species, and 1129 ethnographic artefacts.

Çayeli Museum of Natural Life

Established on an area of 200 square meters next to Çayeli Cultural Centre,the museum is constructed solely with wooden craftsmanship and aims to explainthe conditions under which the people of the Eastern Black Sea live. The museumexhibits agricultural artefacts and objects from the region’s daily life.RizeLakes

Starting from an altitude of 2000 meters in themountainous parts of the city, there are more than 50 small-surfacedlakes formed as a result of glacial erosion and accumulation. Some ofthese are cirque lakes and some are morainal lakes. The largest ones are AmbarLake (glacial cirque lake) at an altitude of 2950 meters, BüyükdenizLake at an altitude of 2900 meters and Öküzyatağı Lake atan altitude of 2778 meters.

Ziraat Tea Garden

The park offers the possibility to incorporate the nature within the city,and also a panoramic scenery of the sea, Rize Castle and the city. The teagarden offers light snacks and beverages. The park is very attractive for itsplant diversity including both plants growing in the region, and trees andflowers brought from different regions and having adapted to the humid climate.

İslampaşa Mosque

Located in İslampaşa neighbourhood of Rize city centre, İslampaşa Mosquealso known as Kurşunlu Mosque was built by İskender Cafer Paşa in 1571. Themosque has a rectangular plan and a dome with 24 windows.

Historical Masonry Arch Bridges

In Rize, there are numerous bridges used for crossing river valleys andaccessing residences, plateaus and agricultural lands. Affected by the climate,the bridges have been repaired frequently. In general, their date ofconstruction is unknown. All of the bridges are in form of circular or lightlypointed arch and have abutments on each side of the riverbed. This form alsoensured protection from flooding. Mikron Bridge, Ortan Bridge, ŞenyuvaBridge, Çat Bridge, Osmanlı (Timisvat) Bridge, Yeşiltepe Kaptanpaşa Bridge,Çağlayan Bridge, Gürgen Köyü Bridge, Koca Bridge (Dörtgözlü Bridge), KantarlıÇamlıtepealtı Bridge, Levent Bridge, Diktaş Bridge, Dereköy Bridge, Suçatı 1Bridge, Suçatı 2 Bridge, Suçatı 3 Bridge, Uğrak Köyü Bridge, Köşklü Bridge,Kızıltoprak Bridge, Aslandere Bridge are some of them.

Historical stone and wooden houses

In Rize, wood and stone are the traditional building materials. Wood ispreferred because it is a building material that can be easily found and easilyprocessed. You will come across dozens of wooden houses when you go up to Rizeplateaus. Historical Rize Houses, also known as Fındıklı, İkizdere, Çamlıhemşin and Hemşin Houses,are stone and wooden houses built in the type of mansions. They are importantcultural heritage assets that have managed to survive in many parts of theregion.

Serender (Nayle) (Granary)

A very authentic architectural component of the region is the granariescalled “nayla-naliye” or serender. Those woodengranaries are built in a place where they would get a maximum of sunlight andwind and raised from the ground by pillars. Serenders serve as granaries tokeep food (corn, pulse, potatoes, butter, cheese, etc.) from rodents, wildanimals and birds. In general, they are decorated with wooden ornaments. Peopleuse ladders to reach the granary. Today, some granaries are transformed intobungalows to accommodate visitors. 

Pileki Cave

Pileki Cave, located in Çiftlik Village in İyidere District, isan artificial cave formed by the extraction of the pileki stonethat is used to cook Black Sea specialties hamsikoli (anchovy bread) and cornbread. The cave formed as a result of this process at the end of thousands ofyears, consists of two large spaces at the entrance and then many tunnels.There are wells and lakes in it.

Ovit Mountain

 91 kilometers away from Rize city centre and 34kilometers away from İkizdere district centre, Ovit Plateau isthe new address for winter sports. With an altitude of 2640 meters,it has a perfectly suitable environment for winter sports. The plateau is usedin the summer months as well: Visitors can do activities such as trekking,mountaineering, photo safari, jeep safari etc.

Fırtına Stream

Amongst many streams of Rize like İyidere, Taşlıdere, Büyükdere,Hemşin, Fırtına and Çağlayan, Fırtına Stream is the mostimportant and the most famous. It consists of a creation of cascading streamsand creeks on Kaçkar Mountains’ slopes facing the Black Sea. The stream has ahigh flow and it is suitable for rafting.

Ardeşen Tunca Formulaz Festival

Wooden car races have been done in Rize since the early 1900s. It startedas a children’s game and race and has turned into a festival since 2009. TuncaFormulaz Wooden Car Festival is a car race festival with strict rules: woodenFormulaz vehicles must be completely handmade. It must be made of wood exceptfor nails. Formulaz pilots are also required to wear hair socks and rubbershoes. The wooden cars compete to finish the 1.6-kilometer-long track speeding60-70 kilometers per hour.