Information about the prehistory of Rize is limited. Although there are various legends about the origin of the city's name, it is not fully known. The written history of the region, where some communities engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry lived in the early 2nd millennium BC, begins with the voyages of Miletus sailors in the 7th century BC. The region, which was later subjected to Cimmerian, Med and Persian raids, was invaded by King Pharnakes in 180 BC. The region, which was captured by the Parthians in the 1st century BC, came under Roman rule in 10 AD. Since it was on the Black Sea-Iran trade route, it became a matter of contention and changed hands several times between the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and the Sassanids. Although it fell into the hands of the Seljuks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, it returned to Eastern Roman rule after the First Crusade. III in 1204. After the Crusade, Trabzon came under the rule of the Greek Empire. Ottoman rule began in the city in 1461, during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. Rize, which was occupied by the Russians on March 9, 1916 during World War I, was liberated on March 2, 1918. The city, which became the sanjak center of Trabzon province after this date, became a province in 1924 after the Republic.
