The Kazan Kremlin remains to this day the very heart of the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan — Kazan. The most unusual structure in the Kremlin complex is the Suyumbike Tower. It has become the architectural symbol of Kazan and is famous a long way from the Republic of Tatarstan. It is dear to our city, like the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great to Moscow, the Statue of Liberty to New York or the Eiffel Tower to Paris.

The Kazan Kremlin reminds us of the role Kazan played in the long stormy history not only of Tatarstan and Russia, but of the Eurasian continent.
The Kazan Kremlin has seen various changes and has always played the central role in the region. In the 10th century it was a small settlement. Its military and commercial role was developed from the 10th to the mid-13th century, when it became a fort. From the 13th century the Kremlin became the centre of the Kazan khanate.
It remained politically independent until 1552 when Ivan the Terrible recaptured Kazan. The old Tatar fortress was rebuilt as a Russian Kremlin. From 1708 the Kremlin became the centre of the first Kazan district of the Russian Empire. Kazan was then called «the third capital of Russia», «the fairest and best city of all Russia after Moscow and Saint Petersburg».

In August of 2005 Kazan celebrated its millennium anniversary. Undoubtedly, it’s a very important date in the history of any city, and what is more, not many of them can boast of this. There are cities in different parts of the world which are famous for their rare and unforgettable beauty and that’s why they always attract millions of tourists, who admire their places of interest with great pleasure. But Kazan isn’t among such cities. You won’t find any medieval castles or royal palaces here. There aren’t any magnificent cathedrals in Gothic style or world — famous museums and art galleries in Kazan.

But nevertheless this city is very dear to me and it is very peculiar, I must say. First of all, it’s my native city -I was born here and I have been living in it since the day of my birth. Everything in Kazan is familiar and close to me, because every stone in it is full of the air of history. I love it and I’m very proud to be one of its citizens.

Kazan is not only the capital city; it is one of the world’s most important political, scientific and cultural centers. It is famous for its perfect layout, beautiful historical monuments, mosques, churches and architectural ensembles. Today Kazan is open for guests of the whole world.
Tourists who used to come on a visit to Kazan formerly, liked to say that it was a real pearl of the Orient in the heart of Russia, because Kazan differed deeply from any other Russian city then, thanks to its striking beauty. And it’s so nice that my city becomes more beautiful with each day.
«Dawn lighted Kazan!…» These words which were written by the great Tatar poet Gabdulla Tukai seem prophetic to many of us, who live here. Every Tatar used to begin his working day with morning prayer — namaz. It was so many centuries ago and in Tukai’s times, so it goes on today, at the beginning of the 21st century. Gabdulla Tukai wrote about Kazan: «Oh, Kazan! Spirited Kazan! Melodious Kazan! Radiant Kazan! Here are all solemn places and deeds of our ancestors, here are all the beauties and the paradise of the yearning soul!». Only the person who loved Kazan so sincerely could write such wonderful words.
I’m sure, the day will come when Kazan returns itself its charming epithet of «a pearl of the Orient» and it’ll become the magic word that opens up hearts of the people speaking all languages of the world.

Kazan is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the Volga region. Kazan is a thousand-year-old city with rich and unique history. In 2005 the people of Tatarstan, Russia and the whole world celebrated its millennium anniversary.
Kazan is located in a very picturesque place. Two rivers — the Volga river and the Kazanka river, which played an important role in the history of the people of the country — meet here. Thick forests with lots of animals, vast fields, big and small rivers and deep lakes with lots of fish make the nature of the Kazan area beautiful.
Lake Kaban, unique in its nature, «a mirror of clear water», is in the centre of Kazan. There are a lot of legends and mysteries connected with this lake. Some of them are sad. The Bulak river (known as the Bulak canal) is very short. It is only 2 km long and stretches from Lake Kaban to the Kazanka river.
Archaeologists are trying to find out more about the past and reconstruct the picture of the great city, to find out the information about the ways the people lived, about their customs and traditions.

Kazan is one of the most important economic centres of the Russian Federation. Large enterprises produce planes, helicopters, compressors, computer systems, optic, chemicals, clothes, consumer goods and so on. It is one of the largest river ports on the Volga and also a large rail-road, an automobile road and an air route centre.

Kazan is open to guests from all over the world. It’s great fun to visit Kazan.

Geography of Tatarstan

The Republic of Tatarstan is located at the centre of the Russian Federation. Tatarstan borders on the Republic of Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mari-E1, Udmurtia and on the regions of Russia: Samara, Ulianovsk Kirov and Orenburg. Tatarstan has no borders with foreign states.
Its area is more than 67 thousand square kilometres. It is as big as Ireland, Sri-Lanka and Lithuania. The territory оf the republic is а plain. It lies in а forest and forest-steppe zone with small hills on the right bank of the Volga.
The climate is continental with warm, sometimes hot summers and quite cold winters That is why agriculture is developed in Tatarstan: gardening, pig farming, bее farming, dairy farming and others.
Such wild animals as elks, bears, wolves, foxes, hares, squirrels, badgers, hedgehogs and others live in the woods.
Tatarstan is rich in oil. Тhе most well-known oil fields are Romashkinskoye, Novo Velkhovskoye, Pervomaiskoye and Bondyuzhskoye. Tatarstan is also rich in brown and black coal, copper, gypsum, dolomites, clays, mineral waters and medical muds.
The republic has huge water resources. The Volga river system is of great importance to Russia and Tatarstan. Тhе Volga, the Каmа, the Vyatka and the Belaya rivers are the four longest rivers, but there are also а lot of smaller rivers: the Zai, the Myosha, the Cheremshan, the Kazanka, etc and а lot of beautiful lakes, such as Lake Kaban, Swan Lake, Blue Lake, Deep Lake and others.
The geographical position of Tatarstan is favourable for the development of industry, trade and other socio-economic fields.

Cultural life in Kazan

The Republic of Tatarstan has a very rich artistic and cultural heritage Kazan its capital is a large cultural centre. The cultural life in Kazan, is diverse and many-sided.
Annual festivals present various styles and schools in arts: Opera festival named after F. Shalyapin, R. Nuriyev’s festival of classical ballet, K Tinchurin Theatre festival, Jazz Crossroads festival and the festival of concertina music. Traditionally, the international festival of modern

music «Europe-Asia» takes place here as well. Talented singers and ballet dancers come to Kazan from different theatres of Russia and other countries of the world. Our theatres make tour performances to Austria, Germany, Switzerland. Luxemburg, Norway, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and many other countries, as well as to the regions of Russia.
There are 100 state museums of history, literature and arts in Tatarstan. Nowadays the National Museum of Tatarstan (the City Museum) is a historical and cultural complex. The Museum has more than 700 000 items. There are different ethnographic collections, documents of many centuries, handwritten books and papers of famous people. You can see a rich collection of national clothes of the peoples of the Volga region, drawings and photographs of Kazan, postcards, posters, works of local painter and sculptors.

The State Museum of Fine Arts is one of the leading museums in Russia. It has a remarkable collection of paintings, sculptures, graphic art, theatrical design, Russian icons and pieces of applied art. There are about 13 000 works of fine art of native and foreign artists.

Tatarstaners are proud of their long-established cultural and artistic traditions.