Petran Plateau

Description

A popular natural area in Rize known for its natural beauty, thermal springs, and highland life.

Story

Petran Plateau (newly named Meşeköy), located in Rize's İkizdere district at approximately 2200 meters elevation, is famous for a very special winter culture you won't see anywhere else in the world: 'Petranboard' or locally called 'Üzme tahtası' (sliding board). These boards, a product of Black Sea people's intelligence and entertainment understanding developed against harsh winter conditions, have been used for sliding on snow for approximately 200-300 years. This tradition, accepted as the ancestor of modern snowboarding, has made Petran Plateau not just a nature wonder but also a living ethnography museum. At the 'Petranboard Festivals' held every year, regional people and tourists glide down steep slopes with these simple-looking but skill-requiring boards to stay balanced. Petran Plateau offers a magnificent nature landscape not only in winter but also in summer. The plateau, located in one of the Kaçkar Mountains' most pristine regions, is very suitable for beekeeping and animal husbandry with its wide meadows and high-altitude flowers. Petran's honey, thanks to endemic plant diversity, has a quality and aromatic structure that can compete with Anzer honey. The houses on the plateau are built with thick stone walls and small windows to withstand heavy winter conditions. Here, life still continues with traditional plateau rituals; milk milked with the first light of morning, cauldrons boiling on plateau fires, and that deep, peaceful silence that falls in the evening... Petran represents not humans' struggle with nature but that joyful alliance they established with it. For visitors, Petran Plateau is like an undiscovered gem. Although part of its road is challenging, the valley view and pristine air you encounter when you reach the plateau make you forget everything. If you go in winter, you can join that traditional sliding excitement on the white cover; if you go in summer, you can get lost among alpine meadows. Plateau residents, with that pride in their eyes while telling about Petranboard culture, are happy to teach you how this board is made and the tricks of staying balanced. Petran is the embodiment of that stubborn but smiling spirit of the Black Sea at the peak of snowy mountains. This is the right address for those who want to escape from the monotony of modernism and be part of a real and rooted tradition.

Visit Tips

• If you want to experience Petranboard, you should time your visit to coincide with the festival period held in January or February.
• Since the plateau road may be covered with snow in winter, be sure to provide transportation with fully equipped off-road vehicles and professional drivers.
• When buying world-famous Petran honey from the plateau, make sure the producer is a native of Meşeköy (Petran) and taste the real strained honey.
• Be careful about sunburns because the air is very clean; when the effects of snow and sun combine at high altitude, your skin can be affected quickly.

Photos