Kazan

Kazan — capital of the Republic of Tatarstan — is one of the largest economic, scientific, and cultural centers of Russia. In 2005, the city celebrated its 1,000th anniversary.

The city was founded in 1005 by the Bulgars and was located in the middle reaches of the Kazanka River. From the late 13th century it was known as Bulgar al-Jadid (New Bulgar). In the 13th–14th centuries it served as the capital of the Kazan Khanate.

From Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan is 402 kilometers, or about 8 hours' drive east along the M7 highway (Moscow–Ufa).

A Walk Around Kazan

Over time, Kazan became divided into two parts — the upper city with the Kremlin, where Russian nobles, merchants, and craftsmen lived and settled, and the lower city, the Old Tatar and New Tatar slobodas (urban settlements), where Tatar artisans, merchants, and even peasants lived, since fields cultivated since ancient times extended right up to the outskirts of the lower city.
The Bulak Canal The visible boundary between the upper and lower city — and in essence between the cultures of East and West — ran along the Bulak channel and a chain of Kazan lakes: Blizhny, Sredny, and Dalniy Kaban. On both sides of this water divide, the city lived and developed in its own entirely distinct way, vivid and nationally distinctive, making an unforgettable impression on every visitor. A. Herzen wrote of Kazan: "Kazan is in a certain sense the chief center of the provinces adjoining it to the south and east: through it they receive enlightenment, customs, and fashions. In general, the significance of Kazan is great: it is the meeting place of two worlds. And therefore there are two principles in it: the Western and the Eastern, and you see them at every crossroads; here, through their unceasing interaction, they have grown together, become friends, and begun to form something distinctive in character."

Kazan is inextricably linked not only with Alexander Pushkin, Yevgeny Baratynsky, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Lobachevsky, Maxim Gorky, and Fyodor Chaliapin, all of whom spent part of their lives in Kazan, but also with outstanding representatives of Tatar culture: Kayum Nasiri, Shigabutdin Mardzhani, Gabdulla Tuqay, Fatykh Amirkhan, and Gayaz Iskhaki.


Sights of Kazan

  • Peter and Paul Cathedral
  • Kazan State Circus
  • National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan
  • Museums of Kazan
  • Kazan Kremlin
  • Syuyumbike Tower
  • Kul Sharif Mosque
  • Raifa Monastery
  • Kazan State University
  • Tatar Academic Theater named after Galiaskar Kamal
  • Bauman Street

City Websites

See Also