Rize Castle

Rize Castle is a partly ruined medieval fortress set on a natural hill about 150 metres high, southwest of the city centre, looking down over the Black Sea and the surrounding tea terraces. The complex has two parts: the Inner Castle (citadel) crowning the steep summit and the Lower Castle stepping down the slope.

History & Significance

According to the sources, the core of the citadel was built during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD), while the lower castle was added in the 13th century; the walls and city fortifications were repaired in the 13th and 14th centuries, when Rize belonged to the Empire of Trebizond under the Komnenos dynasty. Built of rubble stone and mortar and reinforced in places with ashlar, the walls range from 2 to 20 metres high and are 2-3 metres thick, shaped by cylindrical bastions and square support towers, making the castle one of the few surviving examples of military architecture in the wet, green landscape of the eastern Black Sea.

Architecture & Today

Although parts of the structure now lie buried beneath modern concrete buildings and streets, the interior of the upper citadel has been turned into a small public park with a tearoom, while its surroundings operate as a public tea garden. Restoration begun by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2011, covering survey, restitution, restoration and landscaping-and-lighting projects, aims to return the castle to tourism use. The site's appeal comes less from its ruins than from its position: the terrace offers a panorama that gathers the city's red roofs, the harbour, the Black Sea and the tea-clad hills into a single frame, letting visitors read all of Rize at a glance.

Visiting, Access & Tips

This is why agencies like to open their Rize city tours here, a practical first stop reached on a short walk, requiring no queue and offering the city over a glass of freshly brewed tea, usually programmed as a 30-45 minute break. Access is a short taxi or shuttle ride from the centre; because the streets are narrow and steep, large coaches often wait below while groups walk the final stretch.

Route & Best Time

The best time to visit is late spring to early autumn, when the mist clears and the view is at its sharpest; summer and public holidays are the peak. A recommended route begins at the castle, continues to the Tea Museum and the Ziraat Botanical tea garden, and then links onward to the Çamlıhemşin-Fırtına Valley branch.