Rize

Arrian was the first writer to mention Rize. In his Periplus of the Euxine Sea,[1] he described it as a city founded at the mouth of the river of the same name, the ancient and Byzantine ῾Ρίζιος ποταμός[2].Dated to 130–131AD and written as a letter to Roman Emperor Hadrian, the work records how its author, the governor of Cappadocia, made a tour of the Eastern Black Sea territories that formed part of his jurisdiction, first visiting the Roman Empire's Eastern Anatolian frontier garrisons before pushing on to the Black Sea coast in the Trabzon (Trebizond) region.[3] The city of Rize formed part of the historic Georgian province of Chaneti (Georgian: ჭანეთი).

From 1547, Chaneti province was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire and became a part of the sancak of Lazistan. The city was claimed by the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia between 1918 and 1920. On the basis of the 1921 Treaty of Kars, Soviet Russia granted Rize to Turkey along with the other territories of Artvin, Ardahan, and Hopa (Georgian: ხუფათი).

Rize in 1890s

Rize, 1910s, Ottoman-era postcard

^ An Overview of Rize's History ^ Περίπλους τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου ^ The Periplus of the Euxine Sea. Oxford: sold by J. Cooke; and by Messrs. Cadell and Davies Strand, London. 1805. Note: Arrian only mentions the River Rhizius, not any settlement by that name. It is quoted as being to the east of the river Ophis after the rivers Psychrus and Calus.