Kazan, Russia

Kazan

 

Location: Republic of Tatarstan

 

Description of Kazan

Kazan is located in Tatarstan. Capital of the Republic. The city is located in the Middle Volga region at the confluence of the Kazanka River with the Volga.

Kazan, with a population of over one million people, is one of the most dynamically developing cities in Russia. The standard of living and service is comparable with the capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg, it is no coincidence that, along with Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan is called the "Third Capital of Russia".

Much attention in the city is paid to the development of sports, in particular, football, hockey and basketball, in 2013 Kazan hosted the Universiade. By this event, the city has undergone a significant transformation in terms of sports, hotel and transport infrastructure. In 2018, Kazan was one of the cities that hosted matches of the World Cup.

Kazan is interesting for its thousand-year history, evidence of a harmonious combination of Russian and Tatar cultures. The residents of the city are friendly to guests, just a night on the train from Moscow, and you can observe the amazing neighborhood of the ancient Kazan Kremlin and mosques in the central part of the city. Interesting Orthodox objects are located in the vicinity of Kazan - the island-city of Sviyazhsk and the Raifa Monastery.

Kazan is a cosmopolitan city. Almost all city inscriptions and announcements are duplicated in Russian and Tatar (sometimes English is added to them), in a Russian cafe you can meet a Tatar waiter, and in a Tatar - Russian, and in principle, a madrasah can peacefully coexist with a strip bar.

The symbol of Kazan is Zilant, a dragon that, according to legend, lived at the confluence of the Kazanka and the Volga. Zilant is depicted on the coat of arms and flag of Kazan and is found as a decorative element of Kazan fountains, lattices and buildings.

 

Tourist Information

Tourist Information Center , Kremlin street, 15/25. ✉ ☎ +7 (800) 333-03-19, +7 (843) 292-30-10, +7 (843) 29-29-777. Mon–Fri 09:30–18:30, Sat 09:30–15:30, Sunday closed. Here you can get a free tourist map with the main Kazan sights and museums, as well as consult on all tourist issues, order a tour of Kazan and the sights of Tatarstan, book an overnight stay.

 

Orientation

The city center is roughly defined by the Kazanka River from the north, the Volga from the west, railway lines from the south, and st. Esperanto/Vishnevsky (Sukonnaya Sloboda metro area) from the east. Approximately in the middle of this region, the Bulak channel flows from north to south, which flows into the Lower Kaban Lake, which is also elongated in the latitudinal direction.

For the convenience of the traveler, the center can be divided into Russkaya Sloboda to the east of Bulak and Lake Kaban, and Tatarskaya Sloboda to the southwest of them. This division has a historical basis: after the annexation of the Tatar Khanate to Moscow, all the Tatars were evicted beyond the then outskirts - beyond Bulak, which formed the Russian architectural ensemble in the eastern part of the city and the Tatar ensemble in the southwestern. The Russian part contains the Kremlin, churches and most of the museums, while the Tatar part has about a dozen historical mosques.

The main pedestrian street of the Russkaya Sloboda and the whole city - Bauman - departs from the Kremlin to the south and rests on Tukay Square (colloquially Koltso), the center of the city's public life with many restaurants, clubs and hotels. From east to west, Pushkin Street runs through the entire center, after pl. Tukay turning into a street. Tatarstan.

The main street of the Tatar settlement is st. Gabdulla Tukay, colloquially Tukaevskaya. The traveler will also be interested in the short, but very authentic street of Kayum Nasyri.

 

Districts

Kremlin and Russian Sloboda
The historical center of Kazan: the ancient Russian Kremlin with the modern Kul-Sharif mosque as a symbol of the unity of nations, provincial Kazan, Kazan University.

Tatar settlement
The historical district of the Tatars, in which there are ancient Kazan mosques, and simply the most colorful part of the city.

Left-bank settlements
Former Kazan settlements, now turned into a modern city and deprived of a fair amount of sights: no longer the center, but not yet the outskirts.

Zarechie
Old industrial settlements, Kazan's Sotsgorod and new districts on the right bank of the Kazanka.

Victory Avenue
The largest, but at the same time the least interesting area, which is almost entirely occupied by new buildings.

 

Getting in

By plane
Planes fly to Kazan mainly from Moscow (Aeroflot, S7, UTair - at least 10 flights a day), St. Petersburg is the only (night) flight of the Rossiya airline. Orenburg Airlines operates daily flights on regional routes to Kirov, Orenburg, Samara and other cities of the Volga region. The national airline of the Republic of Tatarstan has recently undergone numerous changes, and by the beginning of 2015 it stopped flights altogether.

Foreign flights: Istanbul (Turkish Airlines), every other day Helsinki and Dubai (FlyDubai). There are flights to the cities of Central Asia and resorts.

Kazan International Airport (IATA:KZN). ☎ +7 (843) 267-88-07. The airport is located 26 kilometers southeast of the city near the village of Stolbishchi. For ordinary passengers, one large terminal is available, consisting of the old (1B) and new (1A) sections, and the old one is closed. In the new section you will find the Costa Coffee coffee shop with the most expensive triangles in the city for 135 rubles, as well as the Il Patio restaurant on the second floor above the arrivals area. If you walk in the direction of the old part of the airport, you can find a couple of shops resembling station eateries, where salads and the same triangles are much cheaper. Luggage storage: 200 rubles for the first day and 50 rubles for each subsequent day. In a clean area (domestic flights) there is another Costa Coffee and an American Grill restaurant. There is free Wi-Fi throughout the terminal, although it still needs to be found among paid networks. Polet Hotel near the terminal (+7 (843) 267-87-05, +7 (843) 254-01-12): from 1,500 rubles for a single room.

The airport can be reached by electric trains departing from the Kazan-1 station every 2-3 hours, 30 minutes on the way, price: 30 rubles (2015). An alternative to the train is bus 97 from Prospekt Pobedy metro station, travel time - 40 minutes, operating time - from 05:30 to 18:00. The declared interval of movement is 20 minutes, but in practice it reaches 50 minutes, and the bus may not stop at the metro station at all (it departs from the Lenin Palace of Culture in Sotsgorod). A taxi to the city center costs 500-600 rubles when ordered by phone or via the Internet. At the airport, of course, more expensive.

By train
2-3 direct trains run daily from Moscow to Kazan, including the branded train "Tatarstan", which arrives in Kazan to the sound of the national anthem. Travel time: 11-13 hours, all trains are overnight. At least a dozen trains from Moscow in the direction of the Urals also pass through Kazan. From St. Petersburg, the only train (branded, "Povolzhye"), on the way for almost a day. Communication with neighboring areas is arranged as follows:
Yoshkar-Ola - one suburban train per day, 3½ hours.
Izhevsk - suburban trains, docked at the Kizner station, twice a day, 6.5 hours. You can also travel by long distance train.
Ulyanovsk - passing long-distance trains, 2-3 times a day, 5-6 hours on the way.
Cheboksary - all Moscow trains stop in Kanash (you can also get there by train), from there by buses or rare trains.

There are no trains to Ufa. Similarly, there are no trains to almost any city in Tatarstan, since the railway leaves Kazan to the northeast towards Arsk, Vyatskiye Polyany and Udmurtia. You can get to Naberezhnye Chelny by train, in order of interest, but by bus it will be much easier and at least twice as fast.

There are two railway stations in Kazan:
Kazan-1 , st. Said-Galiyeva, 5. The old station is located in the Old Tatar settlement almost in the center of the city. This is a complex consisting of a very beautiful dark red pre-revolutionary building, surrounded by a suburban train station ("transport complex") and a building with a turret. In the old building, the original interiors and waiting rooms, as well as a cafe-dining room and automatic storage cells have been preserved. In the building with a turret there are ticket offices and rest rooms, in the suburban station there are also ticket offices, metal chairs and nothing else of interest. You can only enter the platform through security checkpoints, which are located in at least three places (in the old building, in the building of the suburban station and in the pavilion between them), but in fact it is enough to go through any of them, and then decide where you need to go .
After reconstruction, the station square is spacious, with tiled paths and a large underground parking lot. There is no metro here. The nearest station is  Kremlyovskaya metro station, 10 minutes walk to the northeast, in the direction of the Kremlin. This is a good road to the city center, although you can just go from the station along any of the streets in the direction from the railway, and in 10 minutes you will already be on the Bauman pedestrian street. On the way to the metro, the Central Department Store will meet with the Bahetle supermarket, where you can buy food. For a snack, the Good Canteen located right on the station square or a cafe in the old station building are suitable.

Kazan-2 (Vosstanie-Passenger, Northern Station) , st. Vorovskogo, 1 ( Severny vokzal metro station). The new station, located in the Zarechye district, was opened in 2012. This is a long one-story building, painted in the corporate colors of Russian Railways. Inside, a shed-like setting reminiscent of makeshift airport terminals. Declared left-luggage offices and rest rooms. Within walking distance of ground public transport and metro station. You can eat at McDonald's (from the station to the north) or in a cafe on Dekabristov Street.

All commuter and long-distance trains with Kazan as their destination arrive at the old Kazan-1 station. The Kazan-2 station is intended for transit trains, which, in turn, do not enter the old station. In the timetables, the station is called "Vosstanie-Passenger", and even the conductors use this (not the most obvious for visitors) name.

By car
The federal highway M7 "Volga" passes through Kazan, enveloping the city from the north. Entrance from the west - along the Gorky highway through the village. Zalesny (turn immediately after the bridge across the Volga) to the district of Zarechye. From the east, the entrance along Mamadyshevsky tract to the area of Sibirsky tract street and Pobeda avenue. 820 km from Moscow, 400 km from Nizhny Novgorod, 165 km from Cheboksary. From Yoshkar-Ola (150 km) P175 leads to the same interchange with the M7 and the road to the city through the village. Zalesny. From the east, the nearest major cities are Naberezhnye Chelny (230 km), Izhevsk (400 km) and Ufa (515 km).

From the south, the Orenburg tract (P239) comes to Kazan, going, as you might guess, from Orenburg (720 km) and passing through such cities as Bugulma (320 km) and Almetyevsk (270 km) on the road. You can drive to Ulyanovsk both along the right bank of the Volga (Р271, 270 km) and along the left bank (Р239 and further unnumbered road to Dimitrovgrad, 340 km). Finally, to the north, to Kirov (400 km), they usually go along the Arsky tract and then along the P169 through Urzhum.

By bus
There are two bus stations in Kazan:
Bus station "Capital" (Central bus station), st. Devyataeva, 15. ☎ +7 (843) 293-04-00, +7 (843) 293-00-41. For unknown reasons, the main bus station of Kazan is not located in the city center, and not even near the railway station, but somewhere in the far corner of Tatarskaya Sloboda, next to the river station, which is unlikely to have transit passengers. From the old railway station (Kazan-1) you can walk here in 30 minutes or take bus 53 and tram 2. From the center to the bus station you can take bus 54, 3 and 5 trolleybuses; in addition, buses 1, 6, 31 pass through the stop. The building of the bus station is old and uncomfortable. Unofficial buses and minibuses usually completely ignore this bus station.

Bus station "Southern", Orenburg per. 207 ( Metro station Prospekt Pobedy, hereinafter  aut. 37, 85, 97). ☎ +7 (843) 237-33-23. It is located very inconveniently, on the very outskirts of the city, and is designed, apparently, for the residents of the Universiade village. Everyone else will have to first come to the Prospekt Pobedy metro station, and then catch buses going to the RCH stop (Republican Clinical Hospital) and Ferma-2, which is absolutely impossible to guess about its proximity to the bus station. The building of the bus station is new and beautiful, there is a cafe and a left-luggage office, free Wi-Fi is promised. Unofficial buses and minibuses going in the direction of Chistopol do not call at the bus station, but they can pick up or drop off passengers at the same RCH stop.

However, the list of Kazan bus stations is far from exhausted. Moreover, we can say that both bus stations play only a very small role in the transport life of Tatarstan. Private buses and minibuses depart from Kazan-1 railway station, Central Department Store, river station, Tukay Square, Prospekt Pobedy metro station, Sovetskaya Square, Compressor Plant. The system is completely chaotic, there are no timetables, and bus stations serve only long-distance interregional routes and a handful of official routes within Tatarstan. At the same time, most of the official buses depart from the Stolichny bus station, and then pass through the Yuzhny, but there are also those that depart immediately from the Yuzhny, bypassing the Stolichny. The Kazan authorities promised to build new bus stations and streamline bus routes by 2013, but it is already clear that this will not happen.

Of the interregional routes, the most common buses (official, from the bus station) to Kirov (19-20 hours), Yoshkar-Ola (2½ hours), Cheboksary (4 hours) and Ulyanovsk (4½ hours) - they all run 5-6 times a day . Buses to Naberezhnye Chelny, Almetyevsk, Bugulma and other cities of Tatarstan are mostly unofficial.

On the ship
River station, st. Devyataeva, 1 ( Ploshchad Tukaya metro station, then  tb. 20 and 21,  aut. 1 and 54, m/t85). ☎ +7 (843) 233-08-18. The river station is located in Novo-Tatarskaya Sloboda. Built in the 1950s, the building was reconstructed for the millennium of Kazan, resulting in a sparkling glass paneling, but the interior was never repaired, so the river station has recently been closed. Its functions are performed by a small building of a suburban station, located to the right of the main river station, when viewed from the station square. Inside the ticket office serving both ships and buses departing from the forecourt to Almetyevsk. Near the station there are a couple of barbeque cafes of the most unattractive kind. In the summer there is regular navigation from Kazan to Bolgar, pleasure trips to Sviyazhsk and commuter traffic to the other side of the Volga, to Upper Uslon. Cruise ships on the Volga also call in Kazan, many cruises start or end in Kazan. In winter, when the Volga is covered with ice, hovercraft come into play - with the help of this rather exotic transport, you can regularly go to Verkhny Uslon, and on weekends also to Sviyazhsk.

 

Transport

Kazan has a developed transport infrastructure. Public transport of the city is represented by the Kazan metro, tram, trolleybus, bus and intracity rail transport. Also, a taxi is available for residents and guests of the city, but you should refrain from trips offered by taxi drivers directly at the stations, in these cases the prices are 2-3 times higher than the average for the city. The normal price for a taxi - landing is 60 rubles and 14 rubles / km on order, you can order from anywhere in the city.

Kazan Metro
The Kazan Metro was opened in 2005 and currently has 1 line and 11 stations. The interval of movement is 5-9 minutes. Metro fares are paid with smart tokens, contactless smart cards and transport cards. The Kazan metro is recognized as one of the safest in the CIS. All stations are provided with ramps for disabled people to get down to the metro, and there is an elevator only at Prospekt Pobedy station. The metro operates from 6:00 to 23:00. List of stations:

"Yashlek (Youth)", "Northern Station", "Aviastroitelnaya" - three stations that were opened on May 9, 2013 for the Universiade 2013 (which took place in July).
"Goat Freedom". The station opened in 2010. Two rows of columns, metal cladding. A rare case when the name of the station was chosen through discussion with the residents of the city.
"Kremlin". Opened as part of the first section of the metro from it to Gorki. A single-vaulted station with an interesting design stylized as Kremlin architecture: lamps on the platform in the form of towers, mosaics on the walls and ceiling with folklore motifs.
Tukay Square. A very interestingly designed station with one row of columns in the middle of the platform, national ornaments on the floor and columns, as well as a large number of mosaic panels on the walls based on the literary works of Tukay.
"Sloboda Liberty". It is also a beautiful station, three-span (that is, with two rows of columns) and decorated with the theme of old Kazan.
"Ametyevo". Located on the bridge, with transparent walls. Two rows of columns. The southern exit from the station leads to areas of high-rise buildings, and the northern exit leads to individual areas, which, when the station was opened, gave rise to a joke that on the signs one should write “Exit to the city” on the one hand, and “Exit to the village” on the other.
"Gorki". Single vault station with minimalist design.
"Victory Avenue". The station opened in 2008. Also luxurious design - two rows of dark red columns, a special central vault, as if leaning on them, the same red wall cladding.
"Dubravnaya". Opened in 2018.

After the opening of three stations in 2013, which connected the Kazan-2 station (Vosstanie-Passenger station) with the city center, the metro has become probably the fastest and most convenient mode of transport in the city. However, it is worth noting that the main railway station (Kazan-Passazhirskaya), where, in addition to trains, the Aeroexpress from Kazan airport will also arrive, has a significant distance from the nearest metro station (Kremlyovskaya), which is inconvenient, and the metro did not solve this problem.

Kazan tram
Tram traffic was opened at the end of the 19th century instead of the Kazan horse-drawn tram. Number of routes 6. Most of the routes originate from the railway station Kazan-Passenger; route No. 5, opened in the fall of 2012, connected the station with the Solnechny Gorod residential complex and, in fact, marked the launch of the first part of the Kazan high-speed tram, which will run along the so-called Big Kazan Ring.

Kazan trolleybus
Kazan bus
It does not differ in a high level of comfort, but often there is no alternative to it, so you have to endure. The bus fleet after the 2007 reform mainly consists of semi-low-floor and low-floor buses of domestic and foreign production. Many drivers use the gas-brake style of driving, so hold onto the handrails as tightly as possible.

 

Travel Destinations in Kazan

Kazan is one of the most interesting cities in Russia, as it combines both Russian traditions dating back to the 16th century and Tatar culture, one of the most developed national cultures of the Russian Federation.

The oldest landmark of Kazan is the Kremlin, which preserved walls and towers of the 16th century and later, the Annunciation Cathedral of the 16th century is one of the best examples of the style, as well as the leaning Syuyumbike tower, which is associated with various legends. Several museums were housed in civilian buildings on the territory of the Kremlin, and between them and the wall, the largest mosque in Tatarstan, Kul-Sharif, was built already in 2005, without damaging the Kremlin. Around the Kremlin are the remains of the provincial Kazan, one of the largest cultural and industrial centers of the Russian Empire. This includes Kazan University with its historical buildings and museums, and churches, the most beautiful of which is the Baroque Peter and Paul Cathedral with exterior painting, and simply pre-revolutionary buildings, which, however, were fairly thinned out by the millennium of Kazan, which was scheduled for 2005.

Tatarskaya Sloboda is probably the world's largest collection of historical Tatar mosques, of which there are a couple of dozen. Tatar mosques are very different in architecture even from Turkish ones, not to mention Central Asian and Middle Eastern ones - in fact, this is a house with a minaret standing next to it or on the roof. The oldest Tatar mosques were built in the 18th century, which is younger than the mosques in Bulgar and Kasimov, but the whole area makes an authentic impression and is very different from the Russian settlement.

There are several dozen museums in Kazan, and many of them are quite noticeable at the all-Russian level - for example, the Museum of Fine Arts is one of the ten best in Russia and has enough rooms to show interesting expositions from the collection, the Historical Museum is dedicated to the history of the Volga region, which is very interesting in itself. itself, and many museums of Kazan University are older than the specialized ones in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Most of the sights are located in the Kremlin and Russkaya Sloboda, as well as Tatarskaya Sloboda. They are easy to walk. Sightseeing in other areas may require some transport planning.

 

Kazan Kremlin

Qolşärif Mosque

Spasskaya Tower

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral (Петропавловский собор)

Soyembika Tower

Kazan Virgin Monastery (Казанский Богородицкий монастырь)

Zilantov Assumption Monastery (Зилантов Успенский монастырь)

Annunciation Cathedral

 

What to do

Museums

1 Spirit of the Warrior, Kazan, Kremlin, Sheinkman passage, 16/1. ☎ +7 (927) 249-80-08. 10:00-18:00. 250 ₽. A unique museum of weapons, which presents an exhibition of archaeological finds related to the weapons and military culture of the ancient and medieval peoples of Russia from the Bronze Age to the era of the Golden Horde.
2  Zaitsev Gallery , st. Burkhan Shakhidi, 7, Kazan, Rep. Tatarstan, 420111 ((3rd floor)). ☎ +7 9270391938. 10:00 to 20:00. from 100r to 400r. Private art gallery and workshop of Kazan artist Slava Zaitsev.

 

Parks

3  Amusement park - Kyrlay, st. Unilateral Grivka, 1a. ☎ +7 (843) 562-47-62. Park "Kyrlay" (formerly "Shurale") is located on the Kremlin dam. There are many attractions here, including a Ferris wheel from which you can see the whole of Kazan.
4 Victory Park, Yamasheva Ave. / st. Bondarenko. The park includes a memorial to the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War, a 42-meter-high Victory stele and an exhibition of armored vehicles and aircraft, all in very good condition. Next to the park is the MALL "Park House". The nearest metro station is "Kozya Sloboda".

 

Cinemas

There are 11 cinemas in Kazan (as of September 2011), 10 of them are multiplexes, more than 50 cinema halls in total. The cinema "Mir" shows festival films, a series of short films. In the center there are 3 multiplexes for 6 halls in the shopping center "Koltso" and on the Bauman shopping center "Rodina" - 5 halls and in the shopping center "Suvar Plaza" 6 halls, the cinema "Grand Cinema".

Near Gorky Park there is a cinema "Korston" with 6 halls, the price category is medium and above average. Near Gorky Park and near the Chekhov market, the Mir cinema - 1 hall (Dostoevsky 30, Mir cinema stop), prices are below the average for the city, they show both mainstream, blockbusters and festival films, meetings with creative people are held. The cinema is on the balance sheet of the city.

In many cinemas in Kazan, author's, festival films are shown, but not always with a large number of screenings, the multiplex "Kinomechta" (as of January 2015) can boast of this most of all, after the cinema "Mir". In the multiplex "Kinomechta" discounts for students in the first half of the week.

Motherland, st. Bauman, 44, building 8 (Kremlyovskaya metro station). ☎ +7 (843) 567-10-72.
RLX Cinema, st. Spartakovskaya, 2, building 1. ☎ +7 (843) 526-56-66.
Korston, st. Nikolay Ershov, 1, GTRK Korston Hotel & Mall Kazan. ☎ +7 (843) 279-31-21.
Karo Film, st. Petersburg, 1. ☎ +7 (843) 238-20-20. SEC Koltso, floor 3
Grand cinema, st. Spartakovskaya, 6. ☎ +7 (843) 526-53-33. Suvar Plaza shopping center
Mir, Dostoevsky, 30. ☎ +7 (843) 238-25-24. edit
3D Port cinema, st. Amirkhana, 1b, RK RIVIERA. ☎ +7 (843) 526-56-66.
Kinomax, Ibragimova avenue, 56, TRK "Tandem", 3rd floor (Metro station Kozya Sloboda). ☎ +7 (843) 518-92-66.

Film festivals
In the cinema "Rodina" and "Grand Cinema" (as well as the cinema "Mir"), the annual international festival of Muslim cinema (formerly known as the "Golden Minbar") takes place in the first half of September.

 

Theaters

In total, there are 9 theaters in Kazan, 3 of them are academic. Most of the theaters are located in the central, Vakhitovsky district.

Kamal Theatre, Tatarstan street, 1. ✉ ☎ +7 (843) 293-03-74. Performances in the theater are in Tatar with simultaneous translation into Russian and English.
Kachalovsky Theater (Kazan Academic Russian Bolshoi Drama Theater named after V.I. Kachalov), Bauman Street, 48. ☎ +7 (843) 292-34-83, +7 (843) 292-54-81. One of the oldest theaters in Russia, founded over 200 years ago. The repertoire includes the best works of Russian and world classics, as well as contemporary authors. The theater has a main and a small stage.
Tatar Opera and Ballet Theater named after Musa Jalil, Freedom Square, 2. ☎ +7 (843) 231-57-10. The repertoire includes masterpieces of world and Russian classics, as well as the best works of Tatarstan composers. The theater is also famous for its annual international festivals: in February, the F.I. Chaliapin, and in May - the festival of classical ballet named after Rudolf Nureyev.
Tatar State Puppet Theater "Ekiyat" , Peterburgskaya street, 57 (entrance from Sukonnaya street). ✉ ☎ +7 (843) 237-70-09. The repertoire includes more than 40 performances based on fairy tales of the peoples of the world. Performances are in Russian and Tatar. The new building of the theater impresses with its unusual, fabulous architecture.

 

Water parks

Kazan Aquapark "RIVIERA", st. Fatykh Amirkhan, 1. ☎ +7 (843) 526-57-57. 50 attractions, including 5 swimming pools, 10 water slides suitable for both children and adults, 3 especially extreme attractions, a separate children's area and a SPA area. The aqua bar, which is located right in the pool, deserves special attention in the water park. In addition to the aqua bar, the water park has a bistro, a lobby bar, a sushi bar and an Amazon restaurant.
Be prepared for queues on the slides, on weekends there are a lot of people who come to the water park even from neighboring republics.
Baryoniks, st. Mazita Gafuri, 46. ☎ +7 (843) 570-09-00. 15 attractions, 6 swimming pools, as well as a jacuzzi, sauna, solarium, cafeteria. Also in the Kazan water park there are many entertainments for children: swimming pools, children's water slides, experienced instructors. The water park itself is located in the large entertainment complex "Kaleidoscope".

 

Stadiums

Kazan Arena.
Central Stadium.

 

Shopping

Bahetle. Chain store with a rich selection of Tatar cuisine. There is also horse meat (in all possible forms), and semi-finished products, and, of course, pastries. Although the price level is slightly above average, Bakhetle is sure to please the eye of any buyer who is tired of the monotonous Pyaterochka, Ashanov and Lenta, and Tatar cuisine is excellent even in the form of semi-finished products and pies packed in cellophane.
Tatpodarok.ru, Prospect Khusain Yamashev, 71A, shopping mall "Bakhetle", 2nd floor (souvenirs and gifts). ☎ +7(843)524-71-79. 10:00-22:00. National souvenirs of Tatarstan, Kazan, Russia: magnets, plates, key rings, dolls, hats - skullcaps and much more. Gifts, souvenirs and interior items.

 

Restaurants

Kazan, like Tatarstan as a whole, is famous for sweets (chak-chak, talkysh-keleve) and national pastries - belyash, gubadiya, echpochmak (which literally sounds like a “triangle”).

You can eat quite cheaply in the Good Dining Room, in the very center on the street. Bauman 21. Opposite the railway station - Yakhina 13, as well as Dekabristov 83, and 2 more addresses of the network. Vegetarian cuisine is available and, in turn, Dobraya Dining Room promotes vegetarianism.

In Kazan, there is a fruit-eating shop "Fruit World", (Yamasheva 63a) which tries to buy fruits of seasonal cultivation and without chemicals. processing. Fruit eaters and everyone who is “in the know” are given a significant discount, you just need to remind the sellers about this. There is a delivery in the city. Meetings of fruit eaters are held regularly.

Chain cafes and restaurants
Good canteen
Old Barn
Katyk

Tavern "Old Barn". Sun–Thursday 11:00–1:00, Fri–Sat 11:00–2:00. Hot dishes: 200–300 rubles (2013). A network cafe that does not have a pronounced specificity. The menu has a bit of Tatar cuisine and a standard set of kebabs, pancakes, sausages and other familiar food. Some variety is given by the branded beer "Old Barn" and rare household items hung on the walls. The restaurant also positions itself as a sports bar, which does not have the best effect on the atmosphere during football matches.

Average cost
Confectionery:
Tortlar, Fatykh Amirkhan Avenue, 105. ✉ ☎ +7 (843) 214-90-99. 09:00-21:00. Cakes.

 

Night life

Jam Bar, st. Profsoyuznaya, 34. Approximate contingent - 17 and older, different music every evening, average prices in the bar, admission is mostly free.
Barsuk, st. Chernyshevsky, 27 ( Subway station: Kremlyovskaya). ✉ ☎ +7 (843) 250-66-99. 22:00-6:00. Men's club.
Gentelmen's club, Fatykh Amirkhan Avenue, 1B. ✉ ☎ +7 (967) 3-666-111. 22:00-6:00. Gentelmen's club.

 

Hotels

There are many different hotels in Kazan. Prices are more humane than in other million-plus cities, that is, for 3000-4500 rubles you can safely settle in almost any three- or four-star hotel in the center and enjoy life. There are much fewer decent hotels offering double rooms for 2000-3000 rubles, but finding them is also not a problem: basically it is Ibis and several places near the railway station, as well as the Regina hotel chain, reviews are different. The price of 2000 rubles and below certainly means economy class, complaints are possible. The only exception is, perhaps, the Volga Hotel, near the railway station, whose cheap rooms are in constant demand among budget travelers. Lots of hostels and mini hotels. The tourist direction is developing and there are now more than 20 hostels in Kazan. There are also those that offer multi-bed rooms from 300 rubles. The quality is different. Up to 1400 for a 2-bed room, however, as a rule, with private facilities on the floor.

It is best to look for economy class hotels in the Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda, although they also happen in the center. Expensive hotels, on the contrary, are grouped around Tukay Square. There is usually no point in going to the outskirts for hotels: there is not that much choice, and the road to the center will take a lot of time.

 

Connection

In addition to Beeline, Megafon and MTS, you can use inexpensive cellular communications from Tele 2 (the former Rostelecom, NSS, Tatinkom), as well as Smarts (it also runs a virtual mobile provider "Fly" that supports the 4G network and occupies 5% of the market). The Yota 4G network is working and actively developing.

 

Precautionary measures

The situation in terms of security is standard for large Russian cities. Not crowded late in the evening, sometimes there are suspicious companies near bars located far from the center - Zhilploshchadka (Zhilka) district, Kirovsky district. The city is calm. The crime situation is low in all parts of the city. You can move freely in all areas.

 

Etymology

There are several versions and legends about the origin of the name of Kazan. Most often they appeal to the version of a boiled cauldron: the sorcerer advised the Bulgars to build a city where a cauldron with water dug into the ground would boil without any fire. As a result, a similar place was found on the shore of Lake Kaban. This is where the name of the city of Kazan came from - cauldron in Tatar means "cauldron". Other versions associate the name of the city with the landscape, the Tatar words kaen ("birch") or kaz ("goose"), prince Hassan and other variants. According to I. G. Dobrodomov: “<…> the reconstructed Alanian-Burtas name Khadzang, associated with the location of the city at a steep bend in the Volga channel, was the primary one. On Chuvash soil, it turned into Khuzan, and in Russian usage, into Kazan.

 

History of Kazan

Middle Ages

According to the official version adopted today, the city was founded more than 1000 years ago. The estimated date of the urban settlement on the site of Kazan is 1004–1005 years. The reason for this dating is found during excavations in the Kazan Kremlin Czech coin, dated by the Board of St. Wenceslaus (presumably, coinage 929–930 years) and the earliest Czech coin, the remains of masonry and wooden city fence, handicrafts and utensils (Hungarian type lining, women's beads, etc.), as well as other artifacts with less obvious dating. According to official statements, experts from 20 cities of Russia and 22 countries of the world were involved in the study of findings related to the age of Kazan.

Kazan was a border post between Volga Bulgaria and two Finnish tribes-Mari and Udmurt. Another vexatious question is where the citadel was built originally. Archaeological explorations have produced evidence of urban settlement in three parts of the modern city: in the Kremlin; in Bişbalta at the site of the modern Zilantaw monastery; and near the Qaban lake. The oldest of these seems to be the Kremlin.

After the Mongols ravaged the Bolğar and Bilär territories in the 13th century, the surviving Bulgars recovered in numbers and a small number of Kipchaks were assimilated from which they adopted their language (the so-called Bulgarism), or Kipchaks and Bulgars mixed to create a modern Kazan-Tatar population. Some Tatars also went to Lithuania, brought by Vytautas the great. Kazan became the center of the Principality, which was dependent on The Golden Horde. In the XIII—XIV centuries, Kazan was growing, becoming an important trade and political center within The Golden Horde. The growth of the city was also promoted by the successful geographical location at the intersection of major trade routes connecting East and West. During the same period, the minting of currency began with the indication of the place of minting—"Bulgar al-Jadid", that is, a New Bulgar.

In 1438, the Bulgar fortress Kazan (ISKE-Kazan) was captured by the ousted Golden Horde Khan Ulugh Muhammad, who killed the local Prince Swan and moved the fortress to a modern place (according to Russian Chronicles). The city became the capital of the Kazan Khanate. The city Bazaar, Taş Ayaq (stone foot) has become the most important shopping center in the region, especially for furniture. Handicraft production also flourished, as the city gained a reputation for its leather and gold products, as well as the wealth of its palaces and mosques. Kazan had trade relations with Moscow, Crimea, Turkey and other regions.

 

Russian Tsardom period

As a result of the Siege of Kazan in 1552, Tsar Ivan the Terrible conquered the city and massacred the majority of the population. During the subsequent governorship of Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky, most of the Kazan's Tatar residents were forcibly Christianized or deported, the Kerashen Tatars. Mosques and palaces were ruined. The surviving Tatar population was moved to a place 50 kilometers (31 mi) away from the city and this place was forcibly settled by Russian farmers and soldiers. Tatars in the Russian service were settled in the Tatar Bistäse settlement near the city's wall. Later Tatar merchants and handicraft masters also settled there. During this period, Kazan was largely destroyed as a result of several great fires. After one of them in 1579, the icon Our Lady of Kazan was discovered in the city.

In the early 17th century, at the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia, the Tsardom of Kazan declared independence under the leadership of voyvoda Nikanor Shulgin with the help of the Russian population, but this independence was suppressed by Kuzma Minin in 1612.

 

Russian Empire period

In 1708, the Tsardom of Kazan was abolished, and Kazan became the seat of Kazan Governorate. After Peter the Great's visit, the city became a center of shipbuilding for the Caspian fleet. The major Russian poet Gavrila Derzhavin was born in Kazan in 1743, the son of a poor country squire of Tatar ancestry though himself having a thoroughly Russian identity.

Before the building of modern dams, low-lying areas were regularly flooded in April and May. Kazan suffered major fires in 1595, 1672, 1694, 1742, 1749, 1757 1744, 1815 and 1842. Kazan was largely destroyed in 1774 as a result of the Pugachev revolt (1774–1776), an uprising by border troops and peasants led by the Don Cossack ataman (Captain) Yemelyan Pugachev, but the city, formerly largely of timber construction, was soon afterwards rebuilt, using stone and according to a grid pattern plan, during the reign of Catherine the Great. Catherine also decreed that mosques could again be built in Kazan, the first being Marjani Mosque.

 

At the beginning of the 19th century Kazan State University and printing press were founded by Alexander I. It became an important center for Oriental Studies in Russia. The Qur'an was first printed in Kazan in 1801. Kazan became an industrial center and peasants migrated there to join its industrial workforce. In 1875, a horse tramway appeared; 1899 saw the installation of a tramway. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, Tatars were allowed to revive Kazan as a Tatar cultural center. The first Tatar theater and the first Tatar newspaper appeared.

Soviet period
In 1917, Kazan became one of the revolution centers. In 1918, Kazan was the capital of the Idel-Ural State, which was suppressed by the Bolshevist government. In the Kazan Operation of August 1918, it was briefly occupied by Czechoslovak Legions. In 1920, Kazan became the center of Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1920s and 1930s, most of the city's mosques and churches were destroyed, as occurred elsewhere in the USSR.[citation needed] After the Treaty of Rapallo (1922) until 1933, the German and the Russian army operated together the Kama tank school in Kazan.

During World War II, many industrial plants and factories to the west were relocated in Kazan, making the city a center of the military industry, producing tanks and planes. After the war Kazan consolidated as an industrial and scientific center. In 1979, the city's population reached one million.

Modern period
In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazan again became the center of Tatar culture and identity, and separatist tendencies intensified. With the return of capitalism, Kazan became one of the most important centers of the Russian Federation. The city went from 10th to 8th position in population ranking of Russian cities. In the early 2000s, the city earned the right to host both the 2013 Summer Universiade and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

 

Geographical position

Kazan is located on the left bank of the Volga River, at the confluence of the Kazanka River, 820 km east of Moscow. Thanks to its advantageous geographical location, Kazan has long been a trade intermediary between East and West. Geographic coordinates: 55°47.45′ s. sh. 49°6.87′ E (coordinates of the so-called "zero kilometer").

Kazan is located in the MSK time zone (Moscow time). The offset of the applicable time from UTC is +3:00. In accordance with the applied time and geographic longitude, the average solar noon in Kazan occurs at 11:44.

 

Geography

The length of the city from north to south is 29 km, from west to east - 31 km. The city in the western, central and southwestern parts faces the Kuibyshev reservoir for about 15 km. In Kazan, there is one bridge across the Volga - at the extreme western border of the city. The Kazanka River flows from northeast to west through the middle of the city and divides Kazan into two parts comparable in territory - the historical one to the south of the river and the newer beyond the river to the north. The two parts of the city are connected by five dams and bridges, as well as a subway line.

The relief of the city is flat and hilly. In the central part of the city there are low-lying plains Zabulache, Predkabanye, Zakabanye, the elevated plain Arskoye Pole and separate hills stand out - the Kremlin (Kremlin-University), Marusovsky, Fedoseevsky, First Mountain, Second Mountain, Ametyevo, Novo-Tatarskaya Sloboda, and others. In the direction to the southeast and east, the territory of the city as a whole gradually rises, and large residential areas of Gorki, Azino, as well as Nagorny, Derbyshki are located at isoheights of 20-40 meters and higher than part of the historical center, southwestern regions and Zarechye. Zilantova Gora stands out in the District, as well as hills of settlements in the north of the city. In different places there are ravines and similar local elongated depressions in the terrain.

The territory of the city is characterized by a very significant proportion of water surfaces. A strip of a part of the Volga water area more than 2 km wide (along the western border of the city), as well as a predominantly shallow end and a new mouth of the Kazanka River about 1 km wide (completely inside the city) were formed when the Kuibyshev reservoir appeared in the middle of the 20th century instead of many times narrower natural rivers. Also, the number of water surfaces of the city includes: starting in the city center and going south, a system of three large lakes Kaban - Lower (Near), Sredny, Upper (Far), smaller lakes on the periphery of Lebyazhye, Glubokoe, Golubye, etc., small reservoirs in different places (including unusual ones in the middle of the quarters of the multi-storey massif Novoe Savinovo), man-made lakes Izumrudnoye, Komsomolskoye, Bulak canal in the city center, small rivers Knox, Dry River, and others on the periphery. A small old woman remained from the former mouth of the Kazanka River. In the water area of the Volga there are small islands Marquis and others. In the southeastern and eastern parts of the Zarechye, near the Kazanka River, there are swampy, insignificant, unstable islands and floodplain meadows. Along the banks of the Volga and Kazanka in a number of places there are hydroprotection dams. The levels of the Volga and Kazanka in the city sometimes fluctuate up to several meters depending on the time of year and some individual years in general, and are very much dependent on the activity of the Volga hydroelectric power station (actually determined by it). In particular, in the summer of 2010, a record decrease in the water level of the reservoir from the average values for half a century greatly exposed the banks of the Volga and temporarily narrowed the end and mouth of the Kazanka almost to natural widths.

 

Climate

The climate of Kazan is temperate continental, severe frosts and scorching heat are rare and not typical for the city. The most frequent winds are south and west, with calm on average 13 days a year. The snow cover is moderate, reaching its maximum height in February and March - 38 cm. The number of clear, cloudy and overcast days per year is 40, 169 and 149, respectively. The most cloudy month is November, the least cloudy months are July and August. In autumn and spring there are fogs, only 16 days a year. The average temperature in summer is +17…20 °C, in winter - -9…12 °C. A prolonged heatwave broke the temperature record in July and again in August 2010, with temperatures reaching 39.0°C on 1 August in the shade. The minimum record was set on January 21, 1942 (-46.8 °C). The highest possible snow depth is 150 centimeters. The average annual wind speed is 3.6 m/s, and the air humidity is 75%. Weather with a stable positive temperature is set, on average, in late March - early April, and with a stable average temperature below zero - in late October - early November. Most of the precipitation falls from June to October, with a maximum in June and a minimum in March. During the year, the average number of days with precipitation is about 197 (from 11 days in May to 24 days in December). The rainiest month was June 1978, when 217 mm of precipitation fell (against a norm of 70 mm). The driest months were February 1984, August 1972 and October 1987, when Kazan experienced no precipitation at all. The lower cloudiness is 4.1 points, the total cloudiness is 6.7 points.

 

Ecology

The main environmental problems are: air pollution, the unfavorable quality of the waters of the Volga, Kazanka and other water bodies within the city, insufficient landscaping of the city, as well as waste disposal. Despite the unsatisfactory situation, Kazan is not included in the list of cities in Russia with the highest level of air pollution, and is also the only large city in the Russian Federation that fully recycles its waste.

In 2010, emissions of pollutants (pollutants) into the air from stationary sources of pollution by more than 1,700 enterprises and organizations of the republic, according to estimates, amounted to 255 thousand tons against 263 thousand tons in 2009. The total mass of emissions from stationary and mobile sources amounted to 543.4 thousand tons, of which 47% is accounted for by industrial enterprises and 53% by transport. According to the degree of air pollution, 11 critical zones and 3 risk zones are distinguished. The risk zones with maximum concentrations of harmful substances include the northern part of Kazan, where such large pollution sources as the Kazanorgsintez plant, CHPP-2 and CHPP-3 operate. The main air pollutants are volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and sulfur dioxide. In 2010, Kazan was especially acutely confronted with the problem of smog caused by forest fires in the region, when the maximum allowable concentrations for harmful substances were repeatedly exceeded.

The volume of wastewater discharges into the surface water bodies of Kazan is 254 million m³ per year, of which 45 million m³ falls on industrial enterprises. The largest water discharges are produced by MUE Vodokanal, as well as the Kazanorgsintez plant and the Kazan Synthetic Rubber Plant. The main water pollutants are suspended solids, chlorides, nitrates, nitrites, sulfates, phosphates and ammonium nitrogen. The area of green spaces in Kazan is 98 km², which is 23% of the area of the city, only half of the required by the standards. The number of green zones is only 20% of the norm, the most problematic are new areas of high-rise buildings. In Kazan, there are 2 landfills for solid waste - "Samosyrovo" and along Khimichnaya Street, while the Samosyrovsky landfill has already exhausted its capabilities and requires reclamation. There are also 2 waste sorting complexes with a total capacity of 250 thousand tons per year.

In Kazan, the comprehensive programs "Green Record" and "Blossoming Kazan" were launched and implemented. 5 million flowers are planted annually. As part of the city's Green Record project, 530,000 m² of new lawns were laid, 78 km of automatic watering systems were laid, and the city's flower decoration area was doubled. One of the sights of the city, the Bulak duct, has found a new life, where a fountain complex with a length of 1.4 km was installed.

In 2011, the harvesting equipment fleet grew by a quarter, 6 stationary points and 2 mobile snow melting chambers were built.

In 2014, the construction of three treatment facilities on storm sewer networks was completed. And in order to reduce the concentration of harmful substances in the air, all public transport in Kazan has been converted to Euro 3 and Euro 4 standards. An electrolysis plant for the production of sodium hypochlorite was put into operation at the Volzhsky water intake. This made it possible to abandon water purification using chlorine that is unsafe for health and switch to European standards for the disinfection of tap water.