The Tzanichitai (Greek: Τζανιχίται), singular Tzanichites (Τζανιχίτης) and feminine form Tzanichitissa (Τζανιχίτισσα), was one of the most important noble families of the late Empire of Trebizond.
The family hailed from the castle and namesake region of Tzanicha (Greek: Τζάνιχα; Turkish: Canca), near modern Torul in Turkey.
Modern scholars such as Anthony Bryer and Alexios Savvides have linked the family to the Zans (Tzannoi in Greek), a local tribe related to the Georgians.
[1][2] In the civil wars that tore the Empire of Trebizond in the middle of the 14th century, the Tzanichites family sided with the pro-Byzantine faction under the Scholarioi.
The castle is located on an elongated expanse of land 2 km northwest of modern Gümüşhane, and 400m above the south bank of the Kanis (Harsit) river.