About Kazan

Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan in the Russian Federation and is located on the Volga River, approximately 800 kilometers East of Moscow, in the Eastern part of Europe. The name of the city (“Kazan” means “kettle” in Turkic languages) fits the hot and busy rhythm of life in this remarkably beautiful city. City area is 425,3 sq. kilometers. Kazan is home to more than 1,1 million people, making it one of the most populous cities in the Russian Federation. It is a multinational city. The main two nationalities represented in Kazan are Tatars and Russians, accounting for approximately equal portions of the city’s population.

Kazan is a city with a rich spiritual and cultural heritage with a thousand – year history. The ancestors of Kazan residents were ancient Bulgary, a people with a quite highly refined culture, with their own written language and literature. The epic poem “Kyssa and Yusuf”, by the Bulgar scientist and writer Kol Gali written in the beginning of XIII century, was widely known in Turkish – speaking world.

From the 7th to 13th centuries on the territory in the middle course of the Volga river there appeared one of the biggest states in Eastern Europe – “Volga Bulgaria” or “Volgo-Kama Bulgaria”, the ruins of its biggest city – Bulgar can still be found 200 kilometres from Kazan. In 922, Islam was declared the official religion of the Volga Bulgaria, the state that existed in what is now Tatarstan. Adopting the Arabic-Islamic world to the Bulgary, who had previously been pagans, initiating the penetration of philosophical and artistic ideas of the East into the Volgo-Kama region. This force played a significant role in development of Bulgar culture and scientific thought.

The City downtown is based around Kazan`s white stone Kremlin, from which the pedestrian “Ulitsa Baumana”, the streets Ulitsa Kremlevskaya, Ulitsa Bol`shaya Krasnaya, Ulitsa Karla Marksa. Kazan hason “A” rating for it`s historical and cultural value and the preservation of it`s heritage. The Kazan Kremlin complex was listed as a world Heritage site by UNESCO in 2000.

The Kazan Kremlin rebuilt in stone after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552. There are 13 Towers (Spasskaya Tower Gate, Transfiguration tower…etc), the Tower of Suyumbike, named in honor of the last Tsarina of Kazan; The Presidential Palace, The Buildings of Artillary Yard, The Kul Sharif mosque – a symbol of Tatarstan`s Islamic revival, The Monument to the architects.

In Front of the Kremlin`s Spasskaya Tower is the small May 1-st Square with monument to Tatar poet Musa Jelil, The National Museum, The City Hall of Kazan, the John the Baptist Monastery.

Ulitsa Baumana is one of Kazan`s main Streets, beginning from the walls of Kremlin and ends on Plochad` Tukaya. There are The Pokrovskii Church, The church of Nikolai Nisskii, The Building of bell tower, and The V.I. Kachalov Kazan Academic Drama Theatre.

Kazan is also connected with Vladimir Lenin (Ulyanov), who lived in Kazan while studying law at the Kazan Imperial University. The poets Vladimir Mayakovskii and Aleksandr Pushkin, and the world-renowned ballet dancer Rudolf Nuriev spent time in Kazan. The city is also associated with many outstanding artists: the singer – Fyodor Shalyapin; the novelists- Lev Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky; poets – Gavrila Derzhavin, Marina Tsvetaeva; the painters- Ivan Shishkin and etc

Each year, the following festivals take place in Kazan: Shalyapin Opera Festival (February), Nuriev Ballet Festival (April-May), Muslim Film Festival “Golden Minbar” (August-September).

Religious and National Holidays in the Republic of Tatarstan – winter Spring, Muslim religious holiday Kurban-Bairam, The Russian Karavon, Sabantui, Day of the establishment of the Republic of Tatarstan. The traditional Tatar dishes are echpochmak – meat and potato pastries; kystybyi – potato pockets; and the symbol of Tatar cookery – sweet chak-chak.

Traditional Tatar music is based on the pentatonic system widespread in the East. One of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century, Sofia Gubaidullina. Tatarstan`s favorite national composers are Salih Saydashev, Nazib Zhiganov, Farid yarullin.

If you decided to visit the Most Beautiful City in the World - Kazan, you should reach the shore of island town Sviyazhsk – a huge beautiful island on a high mountain; visit unique temples, where on one of the frescoes Egyption God Anubis. Also you should see The “Great Bulgar”, Bilyarsk. You will be surprised at the Silence of frogs in the lake – a first miracle you come across when arriving at Raifa Blessed Virgin monastery.