Rize Castle () is a partly-ruined medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

located in Rize, northeastern Turkey. Rize Castle is situated on a hill southwest of the city center, and offers a panoramic view of the city. The castle consists of a

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

and the lower castle. It is believed that the citadel was built during the reign of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(r. 527–565), and the lower castle dates back to the 13th century. It covers an area of . The fortification's walls, built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

and mortar, are high and thick. Between the cylinder-formed bastions, there are overhung support towers in various forms such as square, rectangular and round. Today, some of the ruined castle walls are buried under reinforced concrete buildings and streets. The castle walls in the southern part were restored in 1989. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched a project for the restoration of Rize Castle in 2011.

References

Buildings and structures in Rize Province Byzantine fortifications in Turkey Tourist attractions in Rize Province Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century {{Turkey-castle-stub