Kazan fortress. Kazan Kremlin: history, sights, excursion. Junker School and Art Gallery

Opening hours: daily from 08:00 to 20:00.

History of the Kazan Kremlin

In the oarlock of the Volga and Kazanka rivers lies one of the most beautiful cities Russia - Kazan. The beginning of the history of the city is associated with the growth of the Bulgar kingdom and the development of the Volga-Kama basin by the Bulgars. In a strategically advantageous place, on the Kremlin hill, the first defensive structures were erected at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. The fortifications consisted of a palisade made of logs pointed at the top, a four-meter ditch dug in front of it, more than fourteen meters wide, and an earthen rampart three meters wide. The Bulgarian city was called upon to protect from attacks by Russian principalities on the Volga trade route. Over the next 250 years, the importance of the outpost of the Bulgarian state increased many times, which led to the expansion of the city. Settlements began to appear outside the walls of the fortress. During the time of the Golden Horde, Kazan lost its function as a border bastion, becoming the center of intersection of trade routes of the middle Volga region.
Having survived the collapse of the Golden Horde, Kazan turns into the Kazan Khanate. This is no longer that small settlement within the fortress walls. The city spilled out beyond the boundaries of the fortress, surrounding the Kremlin Hill with trading settlements and settlements of artisans. The number of residential buildings increased rapidly along with the number of citizens. Architects were in a special position, with their hands creating the uniqueness of the ancient city.Numerous mosques, high minarets, luxurious palaces The rulers combined their beauty with the traditions of the Bulgarian era and elements of Turkish and Italian architectural craftsmanship. basis cultural life The khanates served Muslim traditions. At that time, the Khan's Kazan was big city with a highly developed culture.

In 1552, the army of Ivan IV, after a long siege, turned the flourishing city into ashes. The surviving townspeople were evicted outside the fortress walls. The city and surrounding area were populated by Russian settlers. From the remnants of former glory, a completely different one quickly appears Kazan. By the beginning of the 17th century, the area of the settlements doubled, and the walls of the Kremlin forever took on their current shape. The city turns into the administrative center of a large assigned territory. Kazan becomes one of the most impregnable citadels of the now Russian Empire. Ivan IV sent Yakovlev and Shiraya, who built St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, to restore the city. By the end of the 16th century, there were no more wooden defensive buildings left - stone ones were built instead.
As the Russian Empire grew Kazan Kremlin was losing the military component, gaining an administrative one. The last military shocks to the Kazan Kremlin were caused by the Pugachev uprising. The rebels bombarded the Kremlin with artillery for two days, but were never able to capture it. City architecture, as well as the internal development of the Kremlin, were finally formed by the middle of the 19th century - in this form they have survived to this day.

Complex of buildings of the Kazan Kremlin

Spasskaya Tower

The front gate to the fortress is located in Spasskaya Tower. The same architects Yakovlev and Shiryai erected the tower in 1556. Its height is 47 meters. There is a straight arched opening in the tetrahedral base. The fourth octagonal tier, with arched openings on each side, is a belfry in which an alarm bell hangs. Kremlin bell. From here - from a height of 30 meters - a wide overview of the entire Kazan opens. On top is a brick cone with a five-pointed star. In the third - also octagonal - tier there is a clock with a ringing sound. It is noteworthy that the first clocks, installed in the 18th century, were designed in the opposite way - the dial rotated around static hands. In 1780 they were changed to a traditional analogue. The clock currently on the walls of the Spasskaya Tower was installed in 1963. As the chimes begin to strike, the snow-white walls turn crimson.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery complex

In the southeastern part Kremlin there is a monastery complex, in its center there is the skeleton of one destroyed in the 20s of the last century Transfiguration Cathedral. At the foot of the central wall of the cathedral there is a cave of the monastery, which since 1596 served as the resting place of the Kazan miracle workers. The fraternal building borders the monastery fence. Monastic cells were built in 1670. Later, the treasury house and gallery were completed. The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Ratnoy and the archimandrite's chambers are located near the western fortress wall. The church building was reconstructed in 1815 according to the design of A. Schmidt, while the basement of the 16th century was preserved.

Offices

The provincial chancellery, the design of which was developed by the Moscow designer V.I. Kaftyryev, appeared on the Kremlin land at the end of the 18th century. The reception offices and living rooms of the governor's family are located here. At one time, on the second floor there was a luxurious throne room with choirs for musicians. On the site where the Sovereign's court was in the 15th-17th centuries, a guardhouse was built in the mid-19th century. Today, the rooms of the former chancellery house the Department of External Relations of the President of the Republic, the Arbitration Court and the Central Election Commission.

Junker School

To the left of the courthouse there is an arena built according to the same design as in St. Petersburg. The building was used for drill training. Today, within its walls the Institute of Literature and Art named after Ibragimov is located. Next to the arena is the school building itself. The architect Pyatnitsky built it as barracks for the cantonists. In 1861, the building was transferred to the military department, which opened a cadet school on its base.

Hermitage-Kazan

On the third floor of the school is located Exhibition Center. Exhibits of painting, graphics, arts and crafts, and historical and cultural collections are exhibited here. The Center has a signed cooperation agreement with the State Hermitage Museum. The center's lecture hall hosts series of thematic lectures.

Natural History Museum

In the halls of the museum there are exhibitions telling about the diversity of fossils on our planet and the history of the evolution of vertebrates. The exhibits also allow you to see the path of the Earth from its birth to the end of the Carboniferous period, and to expand your basic knowledge in the field of astronomy.

Museum-Memorial of the Great Patriotic War

The museum will tell about Tatarstan’s contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany. On display are exhibits of personal belongings of the heroes, captured weapons, and finds from search expeditions to the sites of fierce battles. There is an electronic database of 430 thousand fellow countrymen who were captured and died on the battlefields.

Khazine Gallery

The National Gallery of Art occupies most buildings of the former Junker School. The works of the Kazan Art School are exhibited within the walls of the building. Exhibits of the founder of Tatar professional art Baki Urmanche and the Soviet artist Kharis Yakulov occupy a special place in the gallery. The artists’ works trace a two-century period historical development the edges.

Kul Sharif Mosque

The main mosque in Kazan is located in the courtyard of the school. Four minarets reach 57 meters into the sky, and the building’s capacity is one and a half thousand people. The minarets are made in turquoise color, which gives the complex a bright image. In addition to the mosque, the complex houses a large open library-museum of Islam, an imam's office and a publishing center. A small round building with a turquoise dome on the south side of the mosque is nothing more than a fire station, stylistically related to the architectural ensemble. Kul Sharif was created in 2005 - as a recreation of the legendary multi-minaret shrine of the Kazan Khanate. The amount required for the construction of the mosque was donated by citizens and businesses of the city. In 1552, the last defenders of Kazan died at its walls in a battle with the Russian army. The last imam's name was Kul Sharif, he defended his city until his last breath and died.

Artillery yard

Behind the school and the mosque is the Cannon Yard, namely its southern building. It is the oldest building of the ensemble - it appeared at the beginning of the 17th century. In the 19th century, an artillery production plant began operating here. Last year, restoration was carried out here. The creation of the museum exposition has begun Cannon Yard A. Currently, the complex hosts permanent exhibitions, chamber performances and demonstrations of fashion collections. Next to the southern building there is a fragment of a brick building on a stone foundation. The depth of the object corresponds to the Khan era of the Kremlin. In those years, residential buildings and buildings were erected here.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

Blagoveshchensky cathedral is the oldest stone structure in Kazan that has survived to our times. It was consecrated in 1562. The lines of the cathedral clearly show the trends of Vladimir, Pskov, Moscow and Ukrainian architecture. Initially, the helmet-shaped crowns on the side heads were replaced in 1736 with bulbous ones. The central dome is made in the Ukrainian Baroque style. In the basement main part of the temple there is a museum of Orthodoxy of the Volga region. At a distance stands the bishop's house - it was built on the site of the palace of the Kazan bishops in 1829. The ensemble is closed by the consistory, which was rebuilt from the bishop's stables. There is a small cozy square in the center, where after including the attraction in the list World Heritage The international organization UNESCO erected a monument to the builders of the Kazan Kremlin.

Governor's Palace

The complex was built in 1848 as a monastery for the Kazan governor with royal chambers for distinguished guests. The construction was supervised by K.A. Tone, who became famous for his works of the Temple of Christ and the Great Kremlin Palace in the capital of Russia. In this very place stood the Khan's palace ensemble. The second floor of the palace has a transition to the Palace Church. It used to be called Vvedenskaya and was built in the 17th century. Inside the church building there is a museum of the history of statehood of the Tatar people, and the president of the Republic of Tatarstan now lives in the governor’s palace.

Tower Syuyumbike

Tower Syuyumbike is a symbol of Kazan. The name belongs to the Tatar queen - the wife of the last two khans of Kazan. According to legend, Ivan the Terrible, having heard about the unearthly beauty of Syuyumbike, sent his messengers with an offer to become the queen of Moscow. Having received a refusal, the formidable king captured Kazan. The proud girl agreed to the king’s proposal, but put forward a counter condition: that in seven days there should be a tower that would outshine all the minarets of the city in height. Ivan the Terrible fulfilled his beloved's wish. During the feast, Syuyumbike wished to take a farewell glance hometown from high new tower. Having climbed to the highest platform, the proud girl threw herself down like a stone. This story may explain the fall of the tower - the builders were in a hurry and miscalculated the foundation.
Outwardly, it resembles the Borovitskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Reliable data about the time of appearance of the attraction has not been preserved today. The tower consists of five tiers, decreasing in size. The last levels are octahedrons, topped with a tent in the form of a truncated octagonal pyramid and a spire with a gilded crescent. From the ground to the spire - 58 meters. In the last century, three large-scale reconstructions were carried out due to the fall of the tower. The deviation of the spire from the vertical today is 1.98 meters.

Taynitskaya Tower

Down from Syuyumbike are Tainitsky entrance gate. This name was given to the gate because of the dungeon leading to the source, which was used by the inhabitants during the siege of the city. Previously, the tower was named Nur-Ali (the Russians called it "Muraleeva"), it was blown up during the capture of the Kremlin. It was through these gates that Ivan IV entered the khan’s monastery, which lay in ruins. The tower was restored, but received architectural treatment in the 17th century. Now the Muraleevy Vorota cafe is located on the upper tier.

Kazan Kremlin cannot leave any of its visitors indifferent! The interweaving of cultures and eras comes out here and takes on a material form that you can touch and, therefore, feel involved in.

(EGROKN)
object no. 1610053000(Wikigida DB)

The Kremlin territory is an irregular polygon in plan, repeating the contours of the Kremlin hill, stretched from the northwest, from the Kazanka River, to the southeast, to May 1 Square. Located on the cape of a high terrace on the left bank of the Volga and the left bank of the Kazanka.

Khan's citadel ( Ark) was surrounded by oak (possibly stone in places) walls, up to 9 meters thick with 4 travel towers: Nur-Ali, Elabuga, Big and Tyumen Gates. Ilisty Bulak (from Tat. "sleeve", a channel connecting the Kazanka River and Lake Kaban) defended the fortress from the west; and with the least protected south- east side the fortress was fenced with deep ditches.

Andrei Kurbsky left the following description of Kazan: “And from the Kazan River the mountain is so high that you can’t even close your eyes; there is a city on it and the royal chambers and mosques are very high, walled, where their dead kings were laid, we remember the number of them, five of them ... "(“walled” - stone).

According to legend, the cathedral mosque had 8 minarets; at the mosques there were madrassas and mausoleums (durbe). There is every reason to believe that the appearance of the mosques was similar to the stone buildings of the same time in Kasimov and Bulgar, where the smooth planes of the walls contrast with elegant carved and ceramic inserts of decorative elements.

The tower consists of 7 tiers: the first three tiers are square in plan and have open galleries, the remaining four are octagonal. The tower is completed by a 6-sided brick tent (height 58 meters or 34 fathoms 6 feet), which until 1917 was crowned with a double-headed eagle resting on a gilded “apple” (according to the legends of the Kazan Tatars, important documents related to history and culture were enclosed in the ball Tatars). The edges of all tiers are decorated with blades or thin brick ridges. There is a through passage in the lower tier of the tower. On the western and eastern facades, the pylons of the lower tier each have 2 attached columns of the Corinthian order, crossed in the middle of the height by “typically Russian horizontal ridges.” The walls are brick, the mortar is lime, the foundation rests on oak piles. From 1917 to the 1930s, the Russian coat of arms was replaced by a crescent; in the 1930s, the crescent was removed; in the 1990s, the crescent was re-installed on the tower. The tower is included in the list of the forty leaning towers of the world. Its deviation from the vertical is 2 meters. The deviation occurred due to subsidence of the foundation in one part. To date, the fall of the tower has been stopped.

Palace (Vvedenskaya) Church

In the authoritative work “Kazan in historical and cultural monuments. Ed. S. S. Aidarova, A. Kh. Khalikova, M. Kh. Khasanova, I. N. Aleeva,” the authors are inclined to the version that the Palace Church “was erected on the site where the Nur-Ali mosque stood during the period of the Kazan Khanate,” however this version is based on later sources (explications to the city plan of 1768, where the temple is indicated as “a church facing from a mosque”) and is one of the hypotheses for the history of the Vvedenskaya Church (consecrated in the 19th century in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).

The Vvedenskaya Church was severely damaged by the fire of 1815 and stood in ruins for a long time. By order of Nicholas I, who visited Kazan in 1836, the church was restored according to the “highly” approved project in 1852 as a palace at the Governor’s Palace. In 1859, the church was consecrated in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The new temple accurately reproduced the design scheme and stylistic features of the former Vvedensky Church, the architectural analogues of which in Kazan can be considered the destroyed Vvedensky Cathedral of the Kizichesky Monastery, and the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery (“Bishop’s Dacha”), which also had covered arched galleries and a stepped volume scheme. The palace temple of the Descent of the Holy Spirit itself with the chapel of St. The martyr Queen Alexandra occupied only the second floor; on the first floor there was a chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the temple icon to which was donated in the mid-19th century by Anna Davydovna Boratynskaya.

The alternation of 4 and 8-sided volumes, the stepped structure of the church itself, is consonant with the stepped architecture of the Syuyumbike tower, surpassing the watchtower in the richness of its decoration.

Nowadays there is a Museum of the history of statehood of the Tatar people and the Republic of Tatarstan.

Presidential palace

The Palace of the Kazan Governor is located in the northern part of the Kremlin, on the site where in ancient times there was the palace of the Kazan khans, and in the 18th century - the chief commandant's house. The building was built in the 40s. XIX century in the so-called pseudo-Byzantine style. The project for the “house of the military governor with premises for imperial apartments” was drawn up by the famous Moscow architect K. A. Ton, author of the project for the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The palace consists of a main building and a circle of services adjacent to the courtyard. The construction of the palace was led by the architect A. I. Peske, sent from St. Petersburg, who rebuilt Kazan after the city fire of 1842. The interior decoration was carried out under the leadership of the architect M. P. Korinfsky, one of the architects of the Kazan Imperial University complex. The center of the main facade is a risalit, completed by a front with three keeled arches, possibly similar to the architecture of the Khan's palace. The building has two porches on 2 order columns with arched doorways. The first and second floors are divided by a number of order pilasters and arched window openings. The facade is a semicircle in plan and has a passage to the palace courtyard. The eclectic decor of the building combines elements of Russian classicism (partitioning with the Corinthian order, rustication of the 1st floor, general symmetry), baroque (bracing of the entablature above the beams of columns of the main projection, the character of the pediments of the porticoes) and ancient Russian architecture (hanging weights of the paired arches of the 2nd floor windows, keel-shaped zakomaras of the central risalit, the nature of the figured supports of the arched suspended passage to the Palace Church).

During the Soviet period, the building housed the Presidium of the Supreme Council and the Council of Ministers of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Currently it is the residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Kul Sharif Mosque

The fraternal building in the northern part of the monastery has been preserved; brick fence on the eastern side of the monastery, the Church of St. Nicholas the Ratnogo, reconstructed in the forms of the 19th century (which served as a teahouse in the Soviet time here is a military unit); the basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was blown up in the 1930s; the foundation of the monastery bell tower with the church of St., destroyed after 1917. Barbarians in the lower tier, the foundation of the Church of St. Cyprian and Justinia.

Public offices building (provincial office)

The 2-story building of the governor's office - public places - is located on the right side of the main Kremlin street and the Spasskaya Tower. The project was drawn up by V.I. Kaftyrev, who was sent by the Senate to Kazan in 1767 to detail the general plan of the city, developed by the commission of St. Petersburg and Moscow after the great fire in Kazan in 1765. The main floor was the second floor, where senior officials and important visitors climbed up the main staircase, and where the “audience” hall was located in front of the “trial chamber” - a central hall with 4 windows. Adjoining it were the “secret” and “secretary” rooms; in the remaining rooms there were “official servants”. The building has a basement with vaulted rooms. To access the long courtyard between the public offices building and the eastern part of the Kremlin wall, the building has two through passages dividing the building into 3 sections. The former Consistory building adjoins the building on the north side.

Cannon yard complex

The cannon yard ensemble consists of four buildings. One of the largest factories in Russia for the production and repair of artillery pieces was located here. The Kazan Cannon Factory contributed to the victory of Russian weapons in the War of 1812. After the fire of 1815, the factory ceased to exist. Recently the Weapon Museum - Spirit of the Warrior - was opened here.

Consistory building

The building of the ecclesiastical department in the 19th century. During Soviet times, the building housed the Ministry of Health of the TASSR.

Bishop's House

Manege

The drill arena for conducting exercises at the Kazan Military School was built in the 1880s according to a design of 1881 carried out in St. Petersburg. The engineering solution for the roof of the building made it possible to cover a significant area (18 x 56 meters) with single-span rafter structures. After carried out in 2003-2006. During the restoration, it is planned to create a storage and reading room in the building for the Museum of Ancient Books and Manuscripts.

Guardhouse building

It is located in the southeast corner, to the right of the main entrance of the Spasskaya Tower. The building was built in the 19th century on the site where, since the 18th century, there had been a stone workshop - a warehouse for military equipment at the provincial chancellery, which stood nearby. The architecture of the building is extremely ascetic.

Lost buildings and structures of the Kazan Kremlin

The 17th century bell tower of the Annunciation Cathedral (destroyed in 1928, had 5 tiers and served as a storage place for the largest bell of pre-revolutionary Kazan),
Transfiguration Cathedral (bombed in the 1930s);
Bell tower with the Church of St. Barbarians in the lower tier (destroyed after 1917),
Church of St. Cyprian and Justinia.

Archaeological research of the Kazan Kremlin

The basis for archaeological research was laid in the 19th century by Kazan local historians, professor of KSU (now KFU) N.P. Zagoskin and P.A. Ponomarev, who explored the pit on the site of the Junker School building under construction. Significant archaeological excavations were carried out in the 1920s. N. F. Kalinin and N. A. Bashkirov. Systematic research conducted since 1971 under the leadership of L. S. Shavokhin and A. Kh. Khalikov made it possible to determine the stratigraphy of cultural deposits. In the 1990s, a number of archaeological studies were carried out, in particular, which did not confirm the version that the Annunciation Cathedral was allegedly built on the site of the main mosque of the Khanate: no archaeological foundations from the period of the Kazan Khanate were identified under the cathedral.

The Kazan Kremlin is located on the cape of a high terrace on the left bank of the Volga and the left bank of the Kazanka. The Kazan Kremlin is a complex of architectural, historical and archaeological sites revealing it centuries-old history: archaeological remains of the first (XII-XIII centuries), second (XIV-XV centuries) and third settlements (XV-XVI centuries); a Kremlin built from Volga limestone and brick, a number of temples and buildings of great historical, architectural and cultural value. The Kremlin territory is an irregular polygon in plan, repeating the contours of the Kremlin hill, stretched from the northwest, from the Kazanka River, to the southeast, to the 1st May Square (formerly Ivanovskaya, after the nearby St. John the Baptist Monastery) and the building of the Gostiny Dvor (now museum of RT). total area the Kremlin is 1500 square meters, the circumference is 1800 m. The southern wall of the Kremlin with five towers faces Millennium Square - the view of the Kremlin from this square is the most common “ business card" cities. The Kremlin is richly illuminated at night.

Story

The ancient history of the Kremlin

No written evidence of the emergence of the Kremlin has survived to this day, but according to official version the city of Kazan was founded at the beginning of the 10th century. At the beginning of its existence, the Kremlin was called Kerman(tat. Kirman). There are no written sources on this matter.

XII-XIV centuries Bulgar fortress

The earliest archaeological finds were found in the northern part of the Kremlin, closer to Kazanka, where the oldest Bulgarian fortified settlement and later, during the century, the fortress of the Kazan Khanate were located. Researchers differ regarding the dating of wooden fortifications of the ancient period: some believe that the Bulgar trading settlement was fortified already in the 10th century, others - only in the 12th century. Scientists also differ regarding the nature of the fortifications; some believe that the stone walls were partially erected already in the 12th century, others believe that only in the 15th or 16th centuries, after the reconstruction of the Kremlin by order of Ivan the Terrible by Pskov architects. From the 2nd half of the 13th century to the 1st half of the 15th century, the Kremlin turned into the center of the Kazan principality as part of the Golden Horde: in 1236, the Mongol hordes led by Batu invaded the Volga Bulgaria and ravaged its capital Bulgar, and in 1240 Bulgaria , like the Russian principalities, finally found itself subordinate to the Golden Horde. Some of the Bulgars fled to the areas of the Kazanka River and founded Iski-Kazan, a city 45 kilometers from Kazan. In 1370, the Bulgar prince Hasan laid the foundation of a fortress on the site of the modern Kazan Kremlin, which served as the residence of the Bulgar princes until 1445.

XV - first half of the XVI century. Khan's fortress

A memorial sign at the foundation of the Khan's mausoleum next to the Syuyumbike tower

The Khan's citadel was surrounded by oak (possibly stone in places) walls, up to 9 meters thick with 4 passage towers: Nur-Ali, Elabuga, Big gate, Tyumen Gate. Ilisty Bulak (from the Tat. “sleeve”, a channel connecting the Kazanka River and Lake Kaban) defended the fortress from the west; and on the least protected south-eastern side the fortress was fenced with deep ditches. Kurbsky left the following description of Kazan: “and from the Kazan River the mountain is so high that you can’t even see it with your eyes; there is a city on it and the royal chambers and mosques are very high, walled up, where their dead kings were laid, we remember the number of them, five of them...” (“walled up” - stone). According to legend, the Kul-Sharif Cathedral Mosque had 8 minarets. There is every reason to assume that the appearance of the mosques was similar to the stone buildings of the same time in Kasimov and Bulgar, where the smooth planes of the walls contrast with elegant carved and ceramic inserts of decorative elements. The Tezitsky (tezik Arabic - merchant) ditch separated the khan's citadel from the southern part, where the buildings were wooden. The khan's close associates settled here and there was a cemetery. At the mosques there were madrassas and mausoleums.

Second half of the 16th century. Construction of a stone Kremlin by Pskov architects

Tower architecture

Palace Church

Palace (Vvedenskaya, consecrated in 1859 in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit) Church

The Vvedenskaya Church was severely damaged by the fire of 1815 and stood in ruins for a long time. By order of Nicholas I, who visited Kazan in 1836, the church was restored according to the “highest” design approved in 1852 as a palace at the Governor’s Palace. In 1859, the church was consecrated in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The new temple accurately reproduced the design scheme and stylistic features of the former Vvedensky Church, the architectural analogues of which in Kazan can be considered the destroyed Vvedensky Cathedral of the Kizichesky Monastery, and the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery (“Bishop’s Dacha”), which also had covered arched galleries and a stepped layout of volumes. The palace temple of the Descent of the Holy Spirit itself with the chapel of St. The martyr Queen Alexandra occupied only the second floor; on the first floor there was a chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the temple icon to which was donated in the mid-19th century by Anna Davydovna Boratynskaya.

Governor's Palace

Presidential (formerly Governor's) Palace

The Palace of the Kazan Governor is located in the northern part of the Kremlin, on the site where in ancient times there was the palace of the Kazan khans, and in the 18th century - the chief commandant's house. The building was built in the 40s. XIX century in the so-called pseudo-Byzantine style. The project for the “house of the military governor with premises for imperial apartments” was drawn up by the famous Moscow architect A.K. Ton, author of the project for the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The palace consists of a main building and a circle of services adjacent to the courtyard. The construction of the palace was led by the architect A. I. Peske, sent from St. Petersburg, who rebuilt Kazan after the city fire of 1842. The interior decoration was carried out under the guidance of the architect M. P. Korinfsky, one of the architects of the Kazan Imperial University complex. The center of the main facade is a risalit, completed by a front with three keeled arches. The building has two porches on 2 order columns with arched doorways. The first and second floors are divided by a number of order pilasters and arched window openings. The facade is a semicircle in plan and has a passage to the palace courtyard. The eclectic decor of the building combines elements of Russian classicism (partitioning with the Corinthian order, rustication of the 1st floor, general symmetry), baroque (bracing of the entablature above the beams of columns of the main projection, the character of the pediments of the porticoes) and ancient Russian architecture (hanging weights of the paired arches of the 2nd floor windows, keel-shaped zakomaras of the central risalit, the nature of the figured supports of the arched suspended passage to the Palace Church). During Soviet times, the building housed the Presidium of the Supreme Council and the Council of Ministers of the TASSR.

Public offices building (provincial office)

The 2-story building of the governor's office - public places - is located on the right side of the main Kremlin street and the Spasskaya Tower. The project was drawn up by V.I. Kaftyrev, who was sent by the Senate to Kazan in 1767 to detail the general plan of the city, developed by the commission of St. Petersburg and Moscow after the great fire in Kazan in 1765. The main floor was the second floor, where high officials and important visitors climbed the main staircase, and where the “audience” hall was located in front of the “court chamber” - a central hall with 4 windows. Adjoining it were the “secret” and “secretary” rooms; in the remaining rooms there were “official servants”. The building has a basement with vaulted rooms. To access the long courtyard between the public offices building and the eastern part of the Kremlin wall, the building has two through passages dividing the building into 3 sections. The former Consistory building adjoins the building on the north side.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

Annunciation Cathedral and bell tower at the beginning of the 20th century

Built in the 16th century by Pskov architects Ivan Shiryai and Postnik Yakovlev. The white-stone, cross-domed cathedral was originally almost half the size of the modern church, which was expanded as a result of several reconstructions. The vault rests on 6 round pillars, like in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The domes of the cathedral in the 16th century were helmet-shaped. At the end of the 16th century, side chapels were added to the temple: the northern one in the name of St. Peter and Fevronia of Murom and the south in the name of St. Princes Boris and Gleb, connected by a porch that went around the central cubic volume of the cathedral.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, a series of alterations radically changed the appearance of the cathedral, especially the view from the west. In 1736, the helmet-shaped domes were replaced with bulbous ones, and the central dome was completed in the form of a so-called “bath” in the Ukrainian Baroque style. Next to the cathedral stood the Church of the Nativity of Christ, built in 1694 under Metropolitan Markell of Kazan. By 1821, the Church of the Nativity of Christ had become very dilapidated and the technical commission proposed building a new warm church in its place. Emperor Nicholas I, who visited Kazan in 1836, proposed building a new warm refectory of the Annunciation Cathedral on the site of the Nativity Church, expanding the cathedral to the west. According to the project of the Kazan provincial architect (1834-1844) Thomas Petondi (1794-1874), the cathedral was expanded to the west, north and south, for which the one-story refectory and the old porch of the 18th century were demolished. This reconstruction made the cathedral more convenient for prayer, but greatly changed its original harmonious appearance. Since then, the exterior of the cathedral has not changed, except for the destruction of the cathedral porch, built according to the design of F. Petondi, which was demolished after the revolution, and the magnificent 5-tier bell tower of the 17th century, which housed the largest bell in Kazan, was destroyed by the communists in 1928. Its weight was 1,500 pounds (about 24,570 kg).

Ensemble of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spassky Monastery at the beginning of the 20th century

Founded in the 16th century by St. Barsanuphius. The fraternal building in the northern part of the monastery has been preserved; a brick fence on the eastern side of the monastery, the Church of St. Nicholas the Ratnoy, reconstructed in 19th-century forms (which served as a teahouse in the military unit located here during Soviet times); the basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was blown up in the 1930s; the foundation of the monastery bell tower with the church of St., destroyed after 1917. Barbarians in the lower tier.

Consistory building

The building of the ecclesiastical department in the 19th century. During Soviet times, the building housed the Ministry of Health of the TASSR.

Kazan Kremlin

In the UNESCO lists it is listed as “the only surviving Tatar fortress.” But, so as not to mislead you, let's tell the truth. In front of you is a Russian fortress, built on the site of a Tatar one by Pskov masters Ivan Shiryai and Postnik Yakovlev, nicknamed Barma.

The Tatar fortress was built from wood. Eyewitnesses describe oak walls in two rows, between which sand and stone were poured. Stone houses in the Kremlin itself and in the surrounding suburbs were made of river rubble, which is “afraid” of fire and crumbles. Therefore, after the capture of Kazan, the city was completely rebuilt and today, alas, apart from the foundations, not a single building from the period of the Kazan Khanate has survived!

So we see Spasskaya Tower and on its sides are two later reconstructed turrets. The one on the right once housed the “Black” prison, in the basement of which the Yaik Cossack Emelyap Pugachev was kept.

He was imprisoned here because “after getting drunk, he called himself an empirator in taverns.” The prisoners earned their own food, so Pugachev walked around the city all day with a guard, begging for alms. The soldier accompanying him was old and blind, and soon the Cossack fled. Right there in the city he hid in a hole, then the Old Believers - “kindred souls” - transported him to the other side of the Volga, from where he left for the free Yaik. Just a year later, in July 1774, the Cossack returned as an “ampire” and besieged the city. But Pugachev was hampered by the unbearable heat that set in that summer. The heat was such that “haystacks in the meadows and gunpowder in guns burst into flames, and people escaped standing up to their necks in the river.” Fire and looting began. Pugachev could no longer gather his drunken army together!

The Spasskaya Tower has survived to this day in in its original form. Only the Outer Chapel, which was, as it were, “stuck” in front of the entrance to the tower, and the double-headed eagle, which crowned its crown until the revolution of 1917, were lost, and a deep ditch was filled in, over which a drawbridge was thrown. The tower itself was not always white stone; at one time it was painted with ocher.

Now let's enter the Kremlin. Pay attention to the thickness of the walls and the hinges remaining from the fortress gates. We are located on the shortest street in Kazan (about 500 meters long), which is named after the Red Commissar Yakov Sheinkman, who was shot by the White Czechs near the Kremlin walls. The rebel regiment of Czechs in August 1918 drove the Reds out of the city in two days, during which time the entire gold reserve of the Russian Empire, which had been transported here shortly before from Moscow, disappeared from the vaults of the Kazan Bank. They say that gold was transported from Kazan on sixteen carts towards the city of Laishev. Some of the carts got lost there...

Near Kazan, the future famous writer Yaroslav Hasek went over to the side of the Reds. True, here he introduced himself by the name of his literary hero - Josef Schweik! He was appointed commandant of Bugulma, where, according to eyewitnesses, he zealously set to work. He passed sentence on the enemies of the revolution and carried it out himself. Here he got married, but when leaving Russia and filling out the form, he entered “single” in the “marital status” column.

In Prague, Hasek’s homeland, they well remember this “page” of his biography, red with blood, and in Bugulma, on the contrary, they are even proud that he “managed” so well here. IN provincial town Grateful descendants opened the Jaroslav Hasek Literary Museum in the building of the former commandant's office.

Kul Sharif Mosque

To our left, if you follow the signs, there is a passage to the Kul Sharif Cathedral Mosque - this is the largest religious building Muslims in northeast Russia.

“...The wide popularity of Kul Sharif in the last period of the existence of the Kazan Khanate is confirmed by many historical sources, as well as information preserved in popular memory and summarized by Shigabutdin Mardzhani. Based on them, it can be argued that Kul Sharif in the Khanate on the eve of his fall was the head of the Muslim clergy, the supreme seid. Andrei Kurbsky, describing the episode associated with the capture of Kazan by the Russian army in 1552, calls him in the European style the “great biskup,” that is, the bishop, and adds that the Tatars themselves consider Kul Sharif the “great anaryi,” or “amir.”

Supreme Sayyid Kul Sharif died during the capture of Kazan by the Russians in 1552 during a battle with them. Marjani leaning on folk legends, reports that Kul Sharif with his followers, united in a special military unit “regiment”, consisting of young dervishes and Sufis, defended themselves up to the madrasah building, then, retreating, climbed to its roof, where they were stabbed to death and fell down. Thus the life of this outstanding personality of the era of the Kazan Khanate was tragically interrupted.

Annunciation Cathedral of the Kazan Kremlin

If, during the construction of the Kul-Sharif Cathedral Mosque, archaeologists tried to restore a religious building destroyed during the siege, then they would have to take as a basis St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow, built “for the conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates,” as there is an assumption that after the conquest of the Kazan Khanate, the same Pskov masters who rebuilt the Kazan Kremlin erected a small copy of one of the enemy’s architectural symbols in the very center of Moscow. However, for some unknown reasons, they then began to build the main Orthodox (Epiphany) Cathedral on the land of the Gentiles.

The consecration of the five-domed Cathedral took place in 1562. For construction, as the Kazan Scribe Book reports, “1148 rubles 24 kopecks and half were spent, and iron was purchased for 100 rubles.” The influence of the styles of Pskov, Vladimir and Moscow architecture is felt in the forms of the Cathedral.

Since then, all the royal persons of the Russian Empire from Peter I to Nicholas II have attended services here. Today the Cathedral has been restored and is open to the public, and church services are held here.

Tower Syuyumbike

Now from the Annunciation Cathedral we will proceed to the leaning tower of Syuyumbike (Syuyum is a female name, and Bika, or Bike, is a respectful address to an adult woman).

She really falls to the side Presidential Palace, on which you see the flag of Tatarstan with the coat of arms - a white leopard. Why this particular animal was chosen, one can only guess, because leopards have never been found on the fauna-rich land of Tatarstan.

The deviation of the tower from the main axis is 1.98 meters. This slope is clearly visible next to the Annunciation Cathedral.

Tower Syuyumbike- architectural and spiritual symbol of Kazan. Her image can be found on many emblems of various Tatar societies, for example, the “Association of Tatars in America.” We can also recall an analogue of the Tatar tower in Moscow - this is the building of the Kazan railway station.

No written sources containing mention of the time of construction of the tower and its original purpose have been found. On the earliest plans of the city of the 18th century, it is shown as the entrance to the courtyard of the commandant’s house, which stood on the site of the “old Tsar’s courtyard.”

Advantageous location of the building on the very high point the hill suggests its use as a watchtower. Inside, the narrow staircase galleries are designed in such a way that just one archer could hold off an entire detachment of the enemy with a spear. A supply of stones, tow, resin, spears and arrows, as well as provisions would allow the siege to be maintained long time a small group of defenders.

Before the revolution, the Syuyumbike tower was open to tourists and served observation deck. On the oak door of the upper tier there is an inscription made by a certain traveler - “Gavrilov was here.”

Some researchers are inclined to believe that the Syuyumbike tower with “non-Russian architecture” was built by Pskov craftsmen on the foundation of the high seven-tier gates, dilapidated during the capture of Kazan, installed at the entrance to the Khan’s Palace. Perhaps the Russian masons were struck by the shape of the gate and they did not rebuild it, but only restored its former appearance. On one side it was the front gate, on the other - a watchtower, on the third - a minaret for calling for Friday prayers, as well as for announcing the khan's decrees to the people. There is another version according to which the tower structure is a mausoleum or funeral mosque.

Many legends are associated with the Syuyumbike tower. There is a legend that it was built on the burial site of three Muslim saints, to whose graves local residents and the dervishes went to worship. And recently, at the foot of the tower, archaeologists excavated burials of the khan period, where the last Kazan khans rest, including Safa-Girey, who died in 1549. A legend passed on by the Tatars from generation to generation has been preserved, telling about the crying of Queen Syuyumbike over the resting place of her beloved husband.

Folk tales depict Syuyumbike as an indescribable beauty, having heard about which, Ivan IV sent ambassadors to her with an offer to become the queen of Moscow. And Syuyumbike’s refusal was the reason for the Russians’ campaign against Kazan. When Russian troops besieged the city, the proud Khansha agreed to the marriage on the condition that within a week the archers would be able to raise the tower higher than all the minarets of the “Pearl of the East.” The princess's demand was fulfilled on time. Seven days - seven tiers! During the wedding feast, the bride expressed a desire to take a last look at her hometown from the height of the seven-tiered tower. She climbed to the very top platform and rushed down.

In fact, it was much more prosaic. After the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, on the orders of the Russian Tsar, she was forcibly married to Kasimov’s Khan Shah-Ali, who was pro-Moscow. This marriage served the king as the best reason for refusing her father, the Nogai Khan Yusuf, who asked to return his daughter and grandson Utyamysh. About him, the king wrote to the khan, “We hold your grandson for my son.” In fact, he was excommunicated from his mother and baptized. In one of the Moscow monasteries the grave of Syuyumbike’s son has been preserved; a new name is engraved on the slab - Simeon.

Monument to Russian soldiers who died during the capture of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible

From the site near the Syuyumbike tower there is a view of the Kazanka River, which flows into the Volga a few kilometers from here. If you look closely, you will see an acropolis monument standing in the water, resembling a small pyramid, erected in 1823 in memory of the capture of Kazan. In 1552, the bodies of dead soldiers were brought here to a hastily dug mass grave. Despite the fact that not only Orthodox Christians took part in the siege of the city, but also Gentiles who went over to the side of the Russian Tsar, buried everyone indiscriminately and had Christian funerals. Later, a chapel was built over the grave, and after the Kuibyshev Reservoir overflowed, the water approached the monument, turning it into an island.

Why was it decided to bury the soldiers at this particular place? According to chronicle sources, it was here that the headquarters of Ivan the Terrible was located (the tsar, by the way, was only 24 years old at the time of the siege). From his royal tent he led the capture of the city. There is a version that an underground hole led from Ivan the Terrible’s tent to the walls of the Kremlin. Allegedly, it existed even before the revolution, and Nicholas II himself, when visiting the sights of the city, went down into it, but the rubble prevented him from getting to the Kremlin. Be that as it may, one thing is certain that engineer Butler, who was specially brought to blow up the fortress walls with “Apglitz bombs,” approached the wall unnoticed through dug passages and laid barrels of gunpowder under its base. After the explosion, two breaches appeared. One of the explosions occurred just under the wall that overlooks the monument-tomb.

Kazan was besieged by a 150,000-strong army against 33,000 defenders, and the Russian Tsar had 160 cannons, as well as the engineer Butler with his “infernal machines.”

On October 2, 1552, the Kazan Khanate was annexed to the Russian kingdom, and the last khan, Yadyger, was captured.

Ivan the Terrible had a Kazan hat made from ferrets, which were found in abundance in the local forests, and decorated with precious stones from the khan’s staff.

Apart from a dozen pebbles, nothing valuable was found in the Khan's palace. The treasury was empty, which later gave rise to the legend of a treasure at the bottom of Lake Kaban.

They say that the king received only the Khan's library with Arabic volumes. They added to his legendary collection of rare books, which, however, are still being searched for.

This was the fifth Russian siege of the capital of the Kazan Khanate. The previous ones ended in failure (once even the cunning khan, like Kutuzov, ordered the capital to be surrendered to enemy troops. A month later he entered the city back and rebuilt it on the site of the ashes new town more beautiful than before!).

The fifth campaign was much better prepared. Higher up the Volga on the island of Sviyazhsk, a fortress was pre-built for wintering troops and storing weapons and fodder. A temple and a monastery were also erected here to conduct missionary activities among the “non-Christians.” The boats, loaded with everything necessary for the siege of the city, regularly sailed from Sviyazhsk to Kazan. Today, you can get to the island of Sviyazhsk either by water on an excursion boat or by land. A dam leads to the island from the village of Vasilyevo. Sviyazhsk has retained the charm of the Russian province; services are held in its churches, darkened by time. Several dozen monks support life on an island forgotten by civilization. Here, on the church vaults painted by icon painters, you can see a rare image of St. Christopher the Pseglot... but with a horse's head.

Tainitsky Gate

On the left side of the Syuyumbike tower is the Cannon Yard (the inscription about this says on the weather vane). Blacksmith workshops have long been located here, where chain mail, armor, arrow and spear tips, swords were made, and cannons and cannonballs were cast.

Now let's head down to Tainitsky Gate. One glance is enough to understand that this is not a new building, but a really old fortification. Inside it you will hear the hum of footsteps and feel the coolness of the past. Pay attention to the thickness of the walls and massive fastenings for gates and bars, as well as the characteristic cranked - from left to right - passage into the fortress. This was done so that the enemy army, armed with swords and shields, would face the fortress garrison on its unprotected side during a siege. After all, the shield was usually held in the left hand, and the sword in the right!

The Taynitskaya Tower was erected in the 16th century on the site of the Nur-Ali Tower, which was blown up during the siege of Kazan. It received its new name from the exploded secret passage to the spring from which the besieged took water. After the capture of Kazan, Ivan the Terrible solemnly entered the city through these gates.

Coin of St. Wenceslas and the 1000th anniversary of Kazan

In 1997, during excavations on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin, archaeologists found a lead coin, which, according to the largest numismatist in Europe, Czech researcher Jarmila Haskova, was made in Prague. The most plausible minting date can be considered 929-930. At this time, jewelry was made from lead. In addition, there is a hole on the coin. This allows us to conclude that the coin was also used as decoration. The coin is unique - the only one in the world. By this archaeological find it was proven that Kazan is already more than a hundred years old.

The Kazan Kremlin is one of the most beautiful and unusual in our country. It reflects the multifaceted history of the city; it houses mosques and monasteries, ancient and new buildings, museums and exhibitions of contemporary art. Restored and decorated for the 1000th anniversary of the city, the Kazan Kremlin has become one of the most attractive tourist sites in the country.

History of the fortress

The very first settlements on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin date back to the Mesolithic. But present-day Kazan dates back to a 10th-century Bulgar settlement - its remains were found in the northern part of the Kremlin hill. Already in the 12th century there was a stone fortress here. After the Golden Horde disintegrated, Kazan became the center of one of the states formed on its basis - the Kazan Khanate. In 1552 the city was taken by Ivan the Terrible.

The current walls and towers of the Kazan Kremlin were built almost immediately after the conquest - in 1556-62. based on and using materials from a Tatar fortress dilapidated during the assault. Initially there were 13 towers, and a drawbridge across a moat led to the city from the Kremlin. Ammunition rooms were built within the six-meter walls. This fortress was built to withstand and handle artillery fire.

Five of the towers were dismantled in the 19th century - now their foundations are open for inspection, but in general the Kazan Kremlin is very well preserved. The last restoration took place here at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century for the celebration of the city's millennium: the wooden canopies were returned to the towers, and this returned the fortress to an appearance close to the historical one.

Kul Sharif Mosque

The main attraction of Kazan and the architectural dominant of the Kremlin complex is the beautiful Kul-Sharif mosque. Once upon a time, at approximately this place in the capital of the Kazan Khanate, there stood a legendary mosque with many minarets, which was considered the most beautiful - at least, that’s exactly how it is mentioned in written sources. But the mosque was destroyed in 1552, and no images or drawings remained of it. In memory of her, it was built in 1996-2005 new mosque. It is named in honor of Kul Sharif, the spiritual leader of the Kazan Khanate in the 16th century.

This is one of the tallest and largest mosques in Russia. The height of its minarets is 58 meters, and the height of the dome is 39 meters. It is lined with Ural granite and white marble, richly decorated inside and out, and evening lighting makes it especially impressive.

The mosque houses the Museum of Islamic Culture, which occupies two halls. One hall tells about Islam in general - for example, there is a model of Mecca, and the second tells about the history of Islam specifically in Tatarstan. The museum holds exhibitions, excursions and master classes.

Tower Syuyumbike

The second building in the Kremlin that cannot be missed is the seven-tiered Syuyumbike tower - it is almost the same height as the minarets and is “Pisan”, that is, it stands at a noticeable inclination.

There is no exact dating of its construction; scientists fluctuate between the 16th and 18th centuries. A 19th-century legend connects it with the name of Queen Syuyumbike, who ruled Kazan at the time of the capture of the city by Ivan the Terrible and threw herself from the highest tier of the tower so as not to fall to the Russian Tsar.

The tower is not connected to the Kremlin by walls - this is quite rare view watchtower, which is located not outside the fortress, but inside it.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

Kazan is a city of two faiths, so not far from the mosque there is an equally impressive, but more ancient Annunciation Cathedral. It was built in the 16th century. Initially, the Moscow Assumption Cathedral was taken as a model, although it is difficult to guess the prototype based on the current appearance of the main Kazan temple. This temple was built by the famous Moscow architects Barma and Postnik - the same ones who built St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. From those times, a fragment of the painting has been preserved - the Kazan Icon in the altar of the cathedral.

The temple received its current form, with the baroque completion of the central dome, during reconstruction in the 18th century, and in the 19th century it was further significantly expanded. Its five-tier bell tower has not survived. The valuables from the cathedral sacristy confiscated by the Bolsheviks - precious icon frames, Gospels, decorated with rich miniatures - were mostly looted. What has survived is now in the National Museum of Tatarstan, located not far from the Kremlin. During Civil War The cathedral was badly damaged - the Red Army soldiers fired at the city, several shells hit the cathedral. During Soviet times, the building belonged to the State Archive.

In 1970-80 the cathedral was restored - as it was in the middle of the 19th century, and since 2005 it has again been handed over to the faithful. The main shrine of the cathedral before the revolution was the relics of St. Guria, the first Kazan archbishop, his shrine has now been restored here, and a particle of the holy relics has been returned.

The Museum of the History of the Annunciation Cathedral operates at the cathedral. This is an interactive exhibition telling about the history of Orthodoxy in Kazan and the decoration of the cathedral - as it was before the revolution, and as it is now. Some relics are kept here: for example, the staff of St. Gurias, a model of the carriage of Empress Catherine II, icons and books from the lost cathedrals of the Kremlin and much more.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

Another important part of the Kremlin is the complex of buildings of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. It was founded immediately after the capture of Kazan, in 1556.

The Transfiguration Cathedral was built at the end of the 16th century. Under his altar there was a tomb of Kazan bishops and nobility. At the same time, the Church of Nikita Ratny appeared, and at the beginning of the 19th century the famous Kazan Theological Seminary moved to this monastery. The Transfiguration Cathedral has not survived to this day - only part of the basement remains, but the Church of Nikita Ratny was restored. Now this complex is being restored and will become a museum of archeology.

Administrative buildings and Cannon Yard

In the 18th century, a public office building appeared in the Kremlin. It was built in 1756 according to the design of the architect V. Kaftyrev. It is a two-story building with vaulted basements, which is divided into three sections separated by passages. At the same time, in the 17th century, the chief commandant’s house was built on the site of the former khan’s palace. TO 19th century it has become dilapidated.

Already in the 1840s, a new pompous building appeared here. This is the house of the military governor, built according to the design of the most famous architect of Nikolaev's time - K. Ton. Its architecture combines classicism with oriental and Byzantine motifs. My administrative function it has always been preserved: in Soviet times the Council of Ministers was located here, and now it is the residence of the President of the Republic.

Once upon a time, Kazan was home to one of the largest arsenals in Russia - centers for the manufacture and repair of weapons. By the middle of the 19th century, its activities ceased, but a complex of its buildings was preserved. One of its buildings, after restoration, became a museum center - events, performances and temporary exhibitions are held here, and it is positioned as the Museum of Weapons. The remains of a foundry have been preserved here.

Museum of Statehood of Tatarstan

Not far from the governor's house there was a house church - first Vvedenskaya, and after perestroika in the middle of the 19th century - the Church of St. Spirit. Now it has been restored and houses the Museum of Statehood of Tatarstan.

The first floor of the building is occupied by exhibitions, mainly from the collections National Museum, telling about the history and culture of the country, and on the second there is the main exhibition - about the formation of statehood, Bulgaria, the Golden Horde, the Kazan Khanate and Russia. It is decorated with modern interactive elements: here you can listen to audio information, watch videos, there are installations and touch panels.

Junker School and Art Gallery

In 1866, the Kazan Junker School was organized. It was located in the Kremlin - in a building that previously housed the cantonist barracks. At that time the building was two-story; during Soviet times, a third one was added to it. Now there is an art gallery of the republic here. It contains works by Kazan artists dating back to the 19th century.

The museum occupied three floors: two floors for the main exhibition and a floor for temporary exhibitions. The pearl of the exhibition is the largest collection of works by the most famous Kazan artist, Nikolai Feshin. He taught at the Kazan Art School, but in 1923 he emigrated to the USA and lived there for the rest of his life, so the Americans consider him their artist. According to his will, he was buried in his homeland - in Kazan. In addition to his works, there are works of the Kazan avant-garde school, and many paintings by contemporary artists on national themes.

Museum of Natural History of Tatarstan

An interesting natural science museum telling about the history of the formation of the Earth and the emergence of life on it is also part of the Kazan Kremlin. Here is a collection of minerals from the geological museum of Kazan University, paleontological exhibits - for example, a colorful skeleton of a tyrannosaurus, models of volcanoes and much more.