Guide
Restoration work by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is still going on at Rize castle. The ground around it has been laid out and is run as a tea garden, and the provincial directorate counts it among the best points in the city for looking out over Rize.
The castle stands south-west of the centre on a natural hill 150 metres high, covering 480 square metres, and it has two parts. The inner castle is thought to have been built in the reign of Justinian I (527-565) and the lower castle in the thirteenth century. The inner castle, irregular in plan and built of regular cut stone and rubble, is entered from the east and has five semicircular towers. The lower castle was once enclosed by walls running out from the inner castle to the north-east and north-west and down to the sea; part of the west walls and some tower remains are what is left of it.
