Province: Rize

Known as Turkey’s greenest and wettest province, Rize is a place where history and architecture take a back seat to the natural beauty and unique cultural heritage of those that live in these deep valleys and high plateaus. Rize factors little into the great histories of the region and, covered with thick forests and vegetation, little remains of its ancient past.
Instead, people come to Rize to take in the stunning views of the spruce covered slopes, the delicate stone bridges that leap over rushing streams, numerous waterfalls, and the idyllic lifestyle of the Yayla where people spend their summers in the high mountains with their animals. The lower slopes near the coast are home to Turkey’s main tea growing region, covering the hills in neatly formed berms of trimmed shrubs: a massive industry in one of the world’s top tea-drinking countries.
A province of high mountains, Rize is also famous for its cloud, rain, and fog, which cling to the mountain slopes and fill the valleys, giving it a sense of mystery.