Kazan, Tatarstan, is an essential stop for travelers looking to explore the Russian Federation further than Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Kazan, the capitol city of Tatarstan, is a fascinating destination for travelers to Russia. Situated on the Kazanka river deep in the Russian empire, Kazan was once capitol of the Kazan khanate, rival to Moscow. Kremlevskaya Ulitsa, in Kazan’s Upper Town, looks like the center of any Russian provincial city. Then you notice, beyond the Kremlin gates, the ice-white minarets of an enormous, ultra-modern mosque.
This is the new Qol Sharif Mosque, built with contributions from several Islamic states. Opened in 2005, the Qol Sharif Mosque replaces an edifice now lost to history: the original Qol Sharif mosque, which was burned when the city was lost to the Russian armies.
With its Islamic minarets and crescent moons mized with the tent rooves and onion domes of Russian Orthodoxy, Kazan feels very much like the perfect bridge city between east and west. Th city is liberally sprinkled with teahouses in the Central Asian style, as well as restaurants offering Turkish and more traditional Russian fare. There are signs in Tatar, Karl Marx street, playful Moderne mansions and dusky-eyed Tatars. Ther is the call to prayer, and the atonal tolling of Orthodox bells. Here, Russian and Tatar culture mix in art, architecture, and individuals.
Kazan’s cultural roots lie in the Volga Bulgar Empire, established by nomads from the Azov region of Central Asia. It is believed that the modern-day Chuvash language is the only surviving remnant of the Bulgar Turkic languages. Whatever their origins, the Bulgar conquered and supplanted the Finno-Ugric and Turkic speaking peoples of the region, and accepted Islam as their state religion in 922. They signed treaties with Kievan Rus before falling to Genghis Khan in 1236.
The Kazan Khanate, formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde, signed a treaty of “Eternal Peace’ with Moscow in 1486, and then was conquered by the forces of Ivan the Terrible in 1552. Ivan the Terrible and successive Tsars began a repressive system of Christianization, destroying all mosques in Kazan and forcing Tatars to the outskirts of the city.
Kazan was destroyed again and again in fires and notably in the Pugachev Rebellion. After this rebellion, Catharine the Great allowed Tatars the freedom to worship in their own fashion, and the first stone mosque was built in Kazan in 1766. However, the Bolsheviks again swept the city with anti-religious propaganda during the 20th century. Repression was not, of course, limited to Islam. The Peter and Paul Cathedral, a Russian Baroque confection dating from 1709, ironically survived throughout the Soviet period as an observatory before being restored following the collapse.
Today, Tatarstan is enjoying a cultural revival, as well as one of the most liberal agreements with the Russian Federation of any of the Republics. The city recently celebrated it’s millenium. Though somewhat spurious (most historians put the founding of Kazan somewhere in the 12th century) it was a great excuse for the city to accelerate a number of oil money-fueled construction projects, finishing the metro and opening its mosque.
The city’s struggles continue, as once again it looks to remake itself—perhaps this time as a tolerant example of how Christianity and Islam can coexist peacefully, keeping their bickering confined to history. One encouraging sign is that, in a city that is almost evenly divided ethnically, fully one-third of marriages are between a Russian and a Tatar.
Where to Stay: Hotel Giuseppe, under Italian management, provides accommodation that is worth every penny of the price, with a sumptuous breakfast buffet, immaculately remodeled rooms, and impeccable service just two blocks from the Kremlin gates. Nobody else in the city comes close. Kremlevskaya Ulitsa 15/25 Tel: (843) 292-09-38, 292-64-39.
Where to Eat: For amazing Uzbek food (many make the mistake of thinking this is a traditional Tatar restaurant) colorfully costumed waiters and waitresses, and the atmosphere of an upscale Central Asian chaikhana, this is the place to go. Profsoyuznaya Ulitsa, 23B Tel: (843) 292-64-64
What to See: Starting with the city’s gorgeous Kremlin, take a tour of the Museum of Islam inside the Qol Sharif Mosque and soak in the incensed atmosphere inside the Assumption Cathedral. Try to decide for yourself whether the legendary (and leaning) Syumbike tower was built by Russians, Tatars or (strangely) Italians. Then stroll down Baumana. It’s also worth taking a ride on the city’s ultra slick new Metro, though at 7 kilometers and one line, it falls a bit short of Moscow’s spiderweb. Kazan is a very walkable city. But in the winter, temperatures can easily be 10-15 degrees colder than Moscow.
