“In general value of Kazan is great: this place of appointment of two worlds. And consequently in it two beginnings: western and east, and you see them on each crossroads; here they from continuous action have against each other got used, have become friends, have started to make something original on character”

A. I. Herzen

Fortress of Great Volga Bulgaria, capital of the powerful Kazan Khanate, the Russian provincial city-all this is the history of Kazan, capital of Republic Tatarstan.

Time ruthlessly erases material traces of the past. And in Kazan the testimony of its thousand-year history clearly appeared only under a brush of the archaeologist. Not once fires and attacks transformed its shape beyond recognition, walls of the Kazan Kremlin pulled down. But each time reviving with the updated face, it kept the eastern soul. While the soul is alive, the city is alive as well. Amazing city you cannot help falling in love with. The love kept spirit more reliably than stone walls, and wall are just a matter of time. So through centuries Kazan lives – the European city with the Eastern soul hidden in its ancient walls.

Look at it and grow fond of Kazan Look at it and grow fond of Kazan forever.forever.

Falling Suumbike Tower is a symbol of Kazan. Most likely the tower was constructed between 1692 and 1838 near place where the six-layered patrol was destroyed during the siege of Kazan in 1552. Height of a tower of 59 meters. The deviation of top from a vertical achieves 1,8 meters.

The name is connected with a legend about tzatina Sjujumbike, regent at juvenile son Utjamysh-Garej. To avoid marriage with tzar Ivan IV she has rushed from a tower downward, the legend says. Actually she has been taken away violently to Moscow and married Kasimov’s khan Shah-Gali.

Her tomb is in the city of Kasimov in the Ryazan oblast.

Mosque Kul Sharif is the main Muslim temple of Kazan and Tatarstan. It was opened in 2005.

The Architecturally-art decision of a mosque includes the semantic elements which are pulling together architecture of mosque with local traditions.

It is located in the territory of the Kazan Kremlin. It is named in honour of Kul Sharif, the politician and last imam of a cathedral mosque of times of falling Kazan Khaganat, the victim during defense of Kazan (1552).

The international space of a mosque is contained up to one and a half thousand by person, on the area before it ten more thousand can be placed. The height of each of four minarets achieves 57 meters.

The Annunciation Cathedral was built in 1556-1562 by Pskov craftsmen headed by Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryai.

Originally it was a small wooden church, the construction of which started on 4 October 1552 by Ivan the Terrible himself in commemoration of the capture of Kazan. The stone temple was consecrated on 15 August 1562. The cathedral was repaired many times and experienced three large-scale reconstructions.

It was constructed by G.B.Roush under the project of V.Suslov and N. Pozdeev in 1883-1886 with support of a merchant A.S. Aleksandrov as a wedding gift to his wife.

Eclecticism of a romantic direction with use of elements of a baroque and classicism.

O. S. Aleksandrova-Gejne has presented the house to city. This beautiful building now demands essential restoration works.

Architect K. L. Mufke, 1906, romantic modernist style. There are the forged pig-iron lattices of a fencing of work Tchebaksa masters.

The building is constructed as a mansion of the general ordering by the Kazan military district A. G. Sandetsky. The museum assembly totals more than 21 thousand products of painting, graphics, sculptures.

The monument of work of sculptor A.V. Balashov is opened on August, 29th, 1999. It is established near to Bogojavlensky cathedral, in which F.I. Shaljapin has been christened on February, 2nd, 1873.

Till 16 years the great singer lived in Kazan, here he has started to sing in church chorus, becoming well-known repeatedly went on tour in Kazan. He often named Kazan the best in city of the world.

Architect K. L. Mjufke, 1904-1907, eclecticism in motives of a baroque and an empire style, under A. K. Ushkov’s order for wife Z.N. Ushkova, the daughter of the professor of university N. F. Vysotsky. The same private residence has been constructed in Moscow. Since 1919 the library is located in a building. Today the National library is one of the largest in Russia: 4 million units of storage, 14 thousand hand-written and rare books.

Architect G. B. Roush, 1897, eclecticism with features of orthodox, Islamic and judaic architecture, is constructed with support of merchant I. S. Krivonosov. Height of a belltower is 62 m. On February, 2nd, 1873 F. I. Shalyapin was christened in church of a cathedral (constructed in 1741)

Presumably the architect is V. I. Kaftyrev, a provincial baroque. It is constructed in 1766-1770 under Catherine II’s personal sanction. It is the first stone mosque after 1552. One of the few mosques worked to destination during the Soviet period of history. Merchants I. G. Junusov (1861) and Z. Usmanov (1863) brought big donations for its constructions. The mosque is named in honour of the imam of this mosque, an outstanding Tatar scientist, the seminary student, the historian and educator Sh. Mardzhani. (1815-1889)

Architects of the project of reconstruction are E.I. Prokofjev and V. P. Loginov, 1996. There is the construction of 1967.

In the structure it has the Big, chamber and rehearsal halls. The big hall has remarkable acoustics. There is the magnificent pipe organ in the Big hall. There is a building of a city town hall on the second plan. Architects of M. P. Corinfsky (the project of interior in

The architect P.G. Pjatnitskij, 1822-1825, Russian classicism. Together with the domestic constructions created under the project of the architect M.P. Korinfskij in the 1833-1838, is an outstanding monument of Russian architecture.

Kazan university is one of the oldest and largest educational institutions of the country (established in 1804). On its base the majority of other institutes and universities of Kazan has been created. The structure of university includes 9 museums with the richest collections.

The theatre is created in 1938. Building of theatre have started in 1933, it was reconstructed in 1948-1956. Architects N. P. Skvortsov, I. G. Gajnutdinov. The Soviet neoclassicism elements of décor are monuments A. S. Pushkin (sculptor N. K. Ventsel) and G. Tukaju (sculptor E. I. Shulik). It repertoir of theatre of works of the Tatar composers and world classics. The main events of a season are festivals of a name R. Nuriev (ballet) and a name F.I. Shaljapin (opera).

Welcome to Kazan