Kazan Kremlin unesco. Kazan: Kremlin, description and photos of the Kremlin, history and architecture, tours of the Kazan Kremlin, Syuyumbike Tower and Kul-Sharif Mosque - travel agency Another Dimension

ancient history

Tower Syuyumbike

Governor's Palace

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

Cannon yard complex

Consistory building

bishop's house

Junker School

Guardhouse building

Kazan Kremlin(tat. Kazan kirmane, Qazan kirmane) - the oldest part of Kazan, a complex of architectural, historical and archaeological sites, revealing the centuries-old history of the city: archaeological remains of the first (XII-XIII centuries), second (XIV-XV centuries) and third settlements (XV-XVI centuries); a white-stone Kremlin, a number of temples and buildings of great historical, architectural and cultural value, the official residence of the President of Tatarstan.

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

Is an object world heritage UNESCO since 2000.

Story

ancient history

To this day, no written evidence of the emergence of the Kremlin has been preserved, 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 for this.

XII-XIV centuries. Bulgar fortress

The earliest archaeological finds were found in the northern part of the Kremlin, closer to Kazanka, where there was an ancient Bulgarian fortified settlement and later, within a century, the fortress of the Kazan Khanate. Researchers disagree about the dating of wooden fortifications of the most ancient period: some believe that the Bulgar trading settlement was fortified already in the 10th century, others - only in the 12th century. Regarding the nature of the fortifications, scientists also disagree, some believe that the stone walls were partially erected already in the 12th century, others believe that only in the 15th or 16th century, 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 (velayet) 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 In 1240, Bulgaria, like the Russian principalities, was finally subordinated to the Golden Horde. Part of the Bulgars fled to the Kazanka districts and founded Iske-Kazan, a city 45 kilometers from Kazan. In 1370, the Bulgar prince Hassan 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

After the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Kremlin became the center of the Kazan Khanate, which existed from 1445 to 1552. In the autumn of 1445, the Horde Khan Ulu-Mukhammed captured Kazan with a detachment of 3,000 soldiers, executed the Bulgarian prince Alimbek, thus establishing the Kazan Khanate on the ruins of the Volga Bulgaria, and soon resumed the Horde system of collecting tribute from the Moscow principality.

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

Andrey Kurbsky left the following description of Kazan: “and from the Kazan River the mountain is so high, even with an eye look at the cover; there is a city on it, and royal chambers and mosques are very high, bricked, where their dead kings were laid, remembering in number, five of them ... "("murovannye" - stone).

The cathedral mosque had, according to legend, 8 minarets, madrasahs and mausoleums (durbe) were located at the mosques. There is every reason to believe that the external 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.

Tezitsky (arab. tesik - merchant) a moat separated the Khan's citadel from the southern part, where the building was wooden. The close khan settled here and there was a cemetery.

Second half of the 16th century. Construction of the stone Kremlin

After the siege of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, the fortress lay in ruins. For the construction of a new white-stone Kremlin, the tsar called on the Pskov architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryai (the builders of St. Basil's Cathedral), as the chronicle tells “The walls of the city, broken and burned, the sovereign commanded to edify,” for which the Pskov elders “and with them the church and city master Postnik Yakovlev and the Pskov masons Ivashka Shiryai and comrades by spring in Kazan new town Kazan dolaty, tidy up two hundred people of Pskov masons, wallers and breakers, how many people will come in handy ". The fortress was significantly expanded, 6 towers (out of 13) were built of stone (five were travel), but in the 16th century it was possible to replace only a third of the wooden walls (with a total length of 1800 meters) with stone and most of The walls and towers of the Kremlin were built of oak. Only at the beginning of the 17th century was the final replacement of the wooden defensive structures of the Kazan Kremlin with stone ones.

Together with the erection of walls, the Pskov masters also built the first Orthodox churches of the Kazan Kremlin: the Annunciation Cathedral, the Church of Cyprian and Justina, the Church of Dmitry Solunsky at the Dmitrievskaya Tower, the Spasskaya (in honor of the icon of the Not Made by Hands) Church at the Spasskaya Tower, as well as two monasteries - the Trinity-Sergievsky with wooden Trinity and Sergius churches and the Transfiguration of the Savior, with a stone church of St. Nicholas the Ratny and a stone, made of hewn limestone, a basement of a wooden (in the 16th century) Transfiguration Cathedral.

For a long time (more than a century and a half), five stone buildings of the khan's time (the khan's mosque, the khan's palace and mausoleums) were preserved in the Kazan Kremlin, used as storage facilities for storing weapons and ammunition, but over time they were dismantled due to dilapidation. The Englishman D. Fletcher left remarkable memories of Russian Kremlin in the 16th century: “four fortresses - Smolensk, Pskov, Kazan and Astrakhan are built very well and can withstand any siege ... they are revered as impregnable.” Interesting evidence of the Kremlin and the city at the turn of the century was left in 1599 by the secretary of the Persian embassy Oruj-bek, sent to Tsar Boris Godunov (who later converted to Christianity in Spain and was further known as Don Juan of Persia): “We arrived in a very large city belonging to the Russian Tsar. It is called Kazan and has more than fifty thousand Christian inhabitants. There are many churches in the city and there are so many large bells in them that it is impossible to fall asleep on the eve of the holiday. … All the houses of this city are wooden, but there is a large and strong fortress with stone walls; it contains a very significant number of warriors who hold posts at night - just like in Spain, Italy and Flanders.

17th century

After a fire in 1672, brick construction began in the Kremlin, a number of towers, including Spasskaya, were significantly rebuilt by Moscow (judging by stylistic criteria) architects.

18th century

As a result of the expansion of the Russian state, the Kazan Kremlin lost its military function, but became stronger as the administrative and cultural center of the Volga region. in 1708, the Kazan province was formed, which was also reflected in the architectural appearance of the Kremlin; over the next centuries, the Governor's Palace, the buildings of government offices, the cadet school, the new bishop's house, the building of the spiritual consistory were erected in it, the Annunciation Cathedral was significantly reconstructed.

The Pugachev uprising of 1773-1775 again turned the Kazan Kremlin into a fortress, which the rebels shelled with cannons for two days. On July 14, 1774, the troops of Emelyan Pugachev were forced to retreat from Kazan. Nevertheless, Emelyan Pugachev nevertheless visited the Kazan Kremlin - he was kept there in one of the casemates before being sent to execution in Moscow.

Since 1774, the architect V. I. Kaftyrev began to implement the highest approved regular urban development plan for Kazan, which provided for the construction of an ensemble of government offices in the Kremlin. Comprehensive construction of squares and streets adjacent to the Kremlin began. It became its starting point - wide streets departed from it radially.

19th century

In 1800, the publisher and educator Maxim Nevzorov left a description of the main fortress of the vast Kazan province: “It houses the Cathedral Church of the Annunciation, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky 2nd class monastery, the church of Cyprian and Justina, the bishop’s house with a spiritual consistory, offices and connected with They include the governor-general's house with all services, an artillery storehouse, a guardhouse, an old commandant's house, prison casemates, old wooden food and salt shops. During the Napoleonic invasion, a factory for the manufacture and repair of cannons operated on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin. By the end of the 19th century, both the inner architectural complex of the Kremlin itself and the modern urban ensemble surrounding it had taken shape.

20th century

After the revolution of 1917, in the 1920-1930s, during the struggle against religion, the bell tower and the cathedral church of the Spassky Monastery, the bell tower of the Annunciation Cathedral, the Church of Cyprian and Justinia, the Spasskaya Chapel at the Spasskaya Tower were destroyed in the Kazan Kremlin, icons and relics of the Kremlin churches. During the Soviet period, the archaeological study of the Kremlin continues (since 1917: N. Borozdin, N. Kalinin, since 1976 - A.Kh. Khalikov), begun in the 19th century by professors of Kazan University N. P. Zagoskin, P. A. Ponomarev and other Kazan local historians. In the 1960s, the Tatar Restoration Workshop was formed. With the formation of the Republic of Tatarstan in 1992, the Kazan Kremlin became the residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

In 1993-1994, the "Main Directions for the Reconstruction and Development of the Kazan Kremlin Complex" were developed. On January 22, 1994, by decree of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Kazan Kremlin State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve was created, which marked the beginning of a systematic scientific study and restoration of the Kremlin complex. Most of the defensive walls were restored, as well as three towers - Preobrazhenskaya, Taynitskaya, Voskresenskaya. The foundations of four previously collapsed and dismantled towers were studied by archaeologists, after which they were conserved and museumified. Also, several objects of the XV-XVI centuries in the ancient part of the Kremlin underwent conservation with museumification: the archaeological remains of one of the representative buildings from the complex of the Khan's court, the Khan's mosque, the tomb of the Kazan khans. The construction of a mausoleum was begun to reburial the remains of the khans, recovered during excavations. During the excavations, the churchyard of the Trinity Monastery, the necropolis and the “cave” of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery were also discovered, where, under the thickness of asphalt and rubble (after the explosion of the Transfiguration Cathedral in 1930), the burial places of the locally revered Kazan saints were preserved. With the help of strengthening the foundations, it was possible to stop the fall of the Syuyumbike tower (with a deviation from the axis by almost 2 meters). At this time, the governor's palace was completely restored (with the revival of the palace enfilade layout and the front square in front of the main facade) and the Palace Church.

Four buildings included in the Cannon Yard complex were also restored. The Annunciation Cathedral was restored in the Bishop's Court complex. In 1995, work began on the reconstruction of the legendary Kul Sharif mosque and the restoration of interiors: the disclosure of frescoes, the reconstruction of the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral. Under the cathedral, the underground temple of All Saints with the necropolis of the Kazan bishops was cleared, the cell of the primate of Kazan Gury, adjacent to the cathedral from the south, was restored. The mosque complex was originally planned as a cult, cultural, educational and memorial center, so the Museum of Islam was placed on the lower floor of the building.

On November 30, 2000, at the session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Kazan Kremlin absorbed the achievements of the Tatar and Russian urban planning art; in memory of this, a monument to Russian and Tatar architects was erected in the Kremlin in the park near the Annunciation Cathedral.

The architectural ensemble of the Kazan Kremlin

Towers and buildings of the Kazan Kremlin:

Walls and towers

After the completion of the construction of walls and towers by Pskov architects, there were 13 towers in the Kremlin, of which 5 were travel, 7 round and 1 five-sided in plan. Due to dilapidation in the 19th century, the North, East, Five-sided and one nameless western tower were dismantled. During the reconstruction in the 1st half of the 18th century, the Spasskaya and Taynitskaya towers were built on with additional brick tiers; the Preobrazhenskaya, Konsistorskaya and the second unnamed Western towers also acquired brick completions. In the 19th century, the Dmitrovskaya Tower was dismantled, a passage arch appeared in its place, and the Voskresenskaya Tower lost the gate church. The spins between the towers originally ended with straight battlements, covered with a hewn roof, and by the 17-18th century. acquired the appearance of a battle wall with arched decorations - "dovetails" on its facade. The masonry of the walls and towers was made with lime mortar.

• Spasskaya Tower. Built in the 2nd floor. XVI century Pskov architects Ivan Shiryai and Postnik Yakovlev. On the inner, northern side of the fortress, the Spasskaya Tower was adjoined by the Gate Church of the Spasskaya, which by now has become one with the tower. Its typical Pskov facade in terms of architectural elements faces the main street of the Kremlin. At the end of the 17th century, instead of 3 tiers, the tower was built on with two brick 8-sided tiers with a brick tent, having received its current, habitual appearance for Kazan people. Until 1917, the tower was crowned with the double-headed coat of arms of the Russian state, in the upper tier in the 18th century a “chiming” clock was installed and even earlier a large alarm bell was transferred from a small belfry (now lost, located on the wall on the left side of the tower). Until the middle of the 19th century, there was a moat with a stone bridge in front of the tower.
• southwest tower It was built simultaneously with the Spasskaya Tower by Pskov craftsmen and is a classic example of the Pskov style of defensive structures.
• Transfiguration tower. The tower received its name from the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery of the Kremlin, which it enclosed from the northwest. Despite the fact that the Transfiguration Tower was also built by the Pskov architects Postnik and Barma, it may have been significantly rebuilt later, as it has strong traces of the architectural influence of Moscow defensive architecture. The territory from the Transfiguration Tower to the Spasskaya passageway was added to the old Khan's fortress by Pskov craftsmen.
• Polyhedral (five-sided) tower also built by Pskov architects. The skeleton has been preserved.
• Nameless round tower- a brick building, built presumably by Moscow architects in the 17th century.
• Northwest tower. The skeleton has been preserved.
• Taynitskaya tower- erected in its present form in the 1550s by Postnik Yakovlev, got its name from a hidden spring from which water could be taken during a siege (there were similar “secret” springs at the Vodovzvodnaya, corner Arsenal and Zamoskvoretskaya (Beklemisheva) towers of the Moscow Kremlin). The entrance to the tower is made in the form of a "knee", which increased the defense capability of the Kremlin. In the place of the Taynitskaya tower, during the time of the Khanate, there was the Nur Ali tower, in the Russian transcription of Muraleev. It was through the Muraleev Tower that the 22-year-old Tsar Ivan the Terrible entered the conquered city.
• North Round Tower. The skeleton has been preserved. Built by Moscow architects in the 17th century. Dismantled after the Pugachev siege of Kazan.
• Resurrection tower built in brick, presumably (according to stylistic criteria), by Moscow architects in the 1670s. Travel, has a cubic shape.
• Northeast round tower dismantled after the Pugachev assault.
• Dmitrievskaya travel tower dismantled after the Pugachev assault. The tower got its name from the church of St. Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica.
• Consistory tower It was built in brick by Moscow architects in the 17th century, and received its name in the 18th century from the Spiritual Consistory located next to the tower in the Kremlin. You can climb the tower and walk along the stretch of the wall - towards the South-Eastern tower. Near the tower, archaeological excavations revealed the so-called. tezitsky (tezik Arab. - merchant) ditch, which went from the Konsistorskaya tower to the Preobrazhenskaya, the famous archaeologist N. Kalinin and a number of scientists considered the tezitsky ditch to be the southern border of the khan's fortress.
• Southeast Round Tower- a striking example of Pskov architecture of the XVI century.

Tower Syuyumbike

In dating the construction of the tower, scientists disagree. In the authoritative work “Kazan in the monuments of history and culture. Ed. S. S. Aidarova, A. Kh. Khalikov, M. Kh. Khasanova, I. N. Aleeva” the tower is tentatively dated to 1645-1650. Supporters of the hypothesis that the tower appeared after 1552 as a sentinel point to the similarity of the Syuyumbike tower with the Borovitskaya tower of the Moscow Kremlin. The well-known Kazan local historian, professor of the Kazan Imperial University N.P. Zagoskin in the 19th century considered the issue of dating the tower open and inclined to the version of its occurrence in the Khan period. It is possible that the tower was built during the reign of Khan Shah-Ali, who established good relations with the Moscow prince. There are suggestions that the Moscow prince could send the masters who built the Moscow Kremlin to build the tower to Kazan, which could eventually affect the similarity of the Syuyumbike tower with the Borovitskaya tower.

tower architecture

The tower consists of 7 tiers: the first three tiers are square in plan and have open galleries, the other 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 concluded in the ball Tatars). The edges of all tiers are decorated with spatulas or thin brick rollers. In the lower tier of the tower there is a through passage. On the western and eastern facades, the pylons of the lower tier have 2 attached columns of the Corinthian order, crossed in the middle of the height by "typically Russian horizontal rollers". 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 with a crescent, in the 1930s the crescent was removed, in the 1990s the crescent was again erected on the tower. The tower is included in the list of forty falling 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 the monuments of history and culture. 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 placed on the site where the Nur-Ali mosque stood during the Kazan Khanate, however this version is based on later sources (explications to the city plan of 1768, where the temple is listed as “a church converted from a mosque”) and is one of the hypotheses of the history of the Vvedenskaya (consecrated in the 19th century in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit) church.

The Vvedenskaya Church was badly damaged by fire in 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" project 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 constructive scheme and stylistic features of the former Vvedenskaya 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 (“Bishops’ Dacha”), which also had covered arched galleries and a stepped scheme of volumes. The palace temple of the Descent of the Holy Spirit itself with the chapel of St. Martyr Empress Alexandra occupied only the second floor, on the first floor there was a chapel in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker, the temple icon in which was donated in the middle of the 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 decoration.

Now here is the Museum of the History of the Statehood of the Tatar People and the Republic of Tatarstan.

Governor's Palace

The Palace of the Kazan Governor is located in the northern part of the Kremlin, in the place 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 of the “house of the military governor with premises for the imperial apartments” was compiled by the famous Moscow architect K. A. Ton, the author of the project of the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The palace consists of the main building and the circumference of services adjoining the courtyard. The construction of the palace was supervised 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, 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 row of order pilasters and arched window openings. The façade is a semicircle in plan and has a passage to the courtyard of the palace. The eclectic decor of the building combines elements of Russian classicism (corinthian division, rustication of the 1st floor, general symmetry), baroque (unfastening of the entablature over the beams of columns of the main risalit, the nature of the pediments of the porticos) and Old Russian architecture (hanging weights of the twin arches of the windows of the 2nd floor, keeled zakomaras of the central risalit, the nature of the figured supports of the arched suspension 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 ASSR. It is currently the residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Kul Sharif Mosque - the main Juma mosque of the Republic of Tatarstan and Kazan (since 2005); located on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin.

The construction of the temple began in 1996 as a reconstruction of the legendary multi-minaret mosque of the capital of the Kazan Khanate, the center of religious education and development of sciences in the Middle Volga region of the 16th century. The mosque was destroyed in October 1552 during the assault on Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible. Named in honor of her last imam seid Kul-Sharif, one of the leaders of the defense of Kazan.

The 36 m high dome is decorated with forms associated with the image and decorative details of the Kazan Hat. The height of each of the four main minarets is 58 meters. The architectural and artistic solution of the external appearance of the mosque was achieved through the development of semantic elements that bring the architecture of the mosque closer to local traditions. Built of white marble and granite, the dome and minarets are turquoise.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

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 temple, which expanded as a result of several reconstructions. The arch rests on 6 round pillars, as 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 aisles were added to the temple: the northern one in the name of St. Peter and Fevronia of Murom and southern in the name of St. princes Boris and Gleb, connected by a porch, which went around the central cube-shaped volume of the cathedral.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of alterations radically changed the appearance of the cathedral, especially the view from the west side. In 1736, the helmet-shaped domes were replaced with onion ones, and the central dome was completed in the form of the so-called “bath” in the Ukrainian Baroque style. Next to the cathedral stood the Church of the Nativity, built in 1694 under Metropolitan Markell of Kazan. By 1821, the Church of the Nativity of Christ was very dilapidated and the technical commission proposed to build a new warm church in its place. Emperor Nicholas I, who visited Kazan in 1836, proposed to build a new warm refectory of the Cathedral of the Annunciation on the site of the Nativity Church, expanding the cathedral to the west. According to the project of the Kazan provincial architect (1834-1844) Foma 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 porch of the cathedral built according to the Petondi project, demolished after the revolution, and the magnificent 5-tiered bell tower of the 17th century, which kept the largest bell of pre-revolutionary Kazan, was destroyed in 1928. Its weight was 1,500 pounds (about 24,570 kg).

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

Founded in the 16th century by St. Barsanuphius. During the period of the Kazan Khanate, on the territory that was at that time outside the walls of the fortress, on the site where the ruins of the museum complex of the Spassky Monastery are currently located, there was a cemetery. This territory continued to serve as a necropolis in the following centuries: “on the ancient monastery necropolis during the XV-XX centuries. at least a thousand people rested (including burials of the period of the Kazan Khanate). So it is multi-layered (up to 6-8 levels) and multinational.”

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

The building of government offices (provincial office)

The 2-storey building of the governor's office - government offices - 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 second floor was the main one, where high officials and important visitors climbed front staircase, and where the "audience" hall was located in front of the "judicial chamber" - the central hall with 4 windows. Adjacent to it were the "secret" and "secretary", in the remaining rooms were "principal servants". The building has a basement floor with vaulted rooms. For passage to the extended courtyard between the building of government offices and the eastern spindle Kremlin wall, the building has two through passages dividing the building into 3 sections. On the north side of the building adjoins the building of the former Consistory.

Cannon yard complex

The ensemble of the cannon yard consists of four buildings. One of the largest Russian factories for the manufacture 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 a fire in 1815, the factory ceased to exist.

Consistory building

The building of the spiritual department in the XIX century. In Soviet times, the building housed the Ministry of Health of the TASSR.

bishop's house

From the establishment of the Kazan diocese in 1555 until the revolution of 1917, the residence of the Orthodox bishops who ruled the Kazan diocese (coinciding in territory with the Kazan province and earlier with the "Kazan kingdom") was in the Kazan Kremlin. The Bishop's House is a typical administrative building of the 19th century. The central and side risalits face the eastern wall. After the Pugachev siege of the Kremlin and the fires, the bishop's house was uninhabitable for many years and needed serious restoration. At the direction of Emperor Nicholas I, who visited Kazan in 1836, funds were allocated for the restoration of the Bishop's House, and already in 1841, the Archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazhsky Vladimir (Uzhinsky) moved from the suburban residence of the Kazan bishops - the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery - to the Kremlin.

Junker School

On the left side of the main Kremlin street there is a building built in the middle of the 19th century for the cadet school on the site where the Trinity Monastery was located before the abolition in the 18th century (founded in the 16th century), and later in XVIII-XIX centuries- arsenal and artillery yard, where in 1812-15. there was one of the largest cannon factories in Russia, new cannons and parts for them were manufactured, and damaged ones brought from the army were repaired. The building was built by architect P. G. Pyatnitsky (architect of Kazan University buildings) “in the style of late Russian classicism”, as indicated by a clear symmetrical layout, high bright classrooms on the sides of the central corridor, a strict exterior of the building and elements of facade decoration: profiled architraves and rustication on the first floor. The main entrance is accentuated by a hinged metal pediment.

Now the building houses the Khazine National Art Gallery and a branch of the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg).

Arena

The combat arena for the exercises of the Kazan Military School was built in the 1880s according to the project of 1881, made in St. Petersburg. The engineering solution of the roof of the building made it possible to cover a significant area (18 x 56 meters) with single-span truss structures. After the 2003-2006 restoration in the building is supposed to arrange storage and reading room of 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 was a stone storehouse - a warehouse of military property at the provincial office, 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 (blown up in the 1930s);
• Bell tower with 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 foundation pit on the site of the building of the Junkers School under construction. Significant archaeological excavations were held in the 1920s. N. F. Kalinin and N. A. Bashkirov. Systematic studies 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, they did not confirm the version that the Cathedral of the Annunciation was allegedly built on the site of the main mosque of the Khanate: no archaeological foundations from the period of the Kazan Khanate were found under the cathedral.

Organizations operating in the Kazan Kremlin

• Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan
• Arbitration Court of the Republic of Tatarstan
• Museum of Islamic Culture
• Museum of Natural History of the Republic of Tatarstan
• Museum of the History of Statehood of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Tatar People
• Center "Hermitage-Kazan" - Branch of the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)
• National Art Gallery "Khazine"
• WWII Memorial Museum
• CEC RT
• Institute of History. Sh. Marjani AS RT
• Public Chamber of the Republic of Tatarstan
• Council of Municipalities of the Republic of Tatarstan
• Post Office No. 14

This is the heart of Kazan, its central and oldest part. In addition to the fact that the place is unusually interesting with its history, it is good and easy to take a walk, relax, be alone with your thoughts.

Kazan is a city with more than a thousand years of history, and it got its start from the Kremlin buildings. The birth of the Kremlin, and along with it Kazan itself, is considered to be the appearance of the first Bulgarian defensive buildings on high hilly terrain between the tenth and eleventh centuries. The conditions for the location of the hill on which the Kremlin stood were favorable from the point of view of nature and geography. This place was surrounded from different sides: the Kazanka River, a system of lakes, swampy meadows and impenetrable forests, and a channel with a muddy bottom.

Until the time when Rus' was conquered by the Mongols, Kazan was a military settlement with developed trade, replenished with new stone structures, and when the Golden Horde had already established its possession, the Kremlin began to play the role of a kind of capital of the Kazan principality. An important role for the development of Kazan at that time was its location on the Volga, the intersection of major transit routes, as a result of which the city grew significantly. In the fifteenth century, after the collapse of the Horde, Kazan and the surrounding territories formed the Kazan Khanate, independent of any state, the center of which was the Kremlin. It was at this time that Kazan flourished various kinds production. Modern archaeologists have found on the Kremlin territory forges for smelting metal, the simplest equipment for leatherworking. Construction and architecture, science and arts and crafts were actively developed. In 1552, the army of Tsar Ivan the Terrible took Kazan, and the Kremlin became the administrative core of the entire Volga region conquered by Russia, and since 1708 - the main settlement of the Kazan province. After the annexation of Kazan, the Kremlin changed significantly, many buildings, defensive structures and towers were rebuilt, buildings of Russian architecture began to appear along with the preserved objects of the Bulgar and Tatar-Mongol culture. From about the middle of the nineteenth century, the Kremlin took on its appearance, which has survived to this day. Under the USSR, the Kremlin was the administrative core of the Tatar People's Republic, and since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has been the State Center of the Republic of Tatarstan, an artistic, architectural and historical museum-reserve, included in the list of world cultural and natural heritage UNESCO.

Well, let's start our walk around the Kremlin. And the first thing that meets us is the white-stone Kremlin walls. Their length along the perimeter is almost two kilometers. The entrance to the territory from the Millennium Square, which is adjacent, among others, to the famous "flying saucer" - the State Circus of the city of Kazan and the metro station "Kremlevskaya", is carried out through the gates of the Transfiguration Tower. During the time of the Kazan Khanate, the Temenskaya Tower was in its place, but it has not survived to this day and was rebuilt. Through the large wooden gates of the tower, tourists enter the ancient and beautiful corner of Kazan - the Kremlin. Above the gate there is a small niche for a gate icon, but now it is empty. The tower itself is white stone, and its top is wooden. There is a cafe on the second floor during the warm season for tourists. Entering through the gate, we kind of climb up the hill along the paving stones, we go up the Kremlin hill.

Next we come across the corner round South-West Tower, which in the turbulent old times was one of the most important defensive objects in the Kremlin. And, finally, we see the main tower - Spasskaya, snow-white, stately, welcoming its guests.

Now a large arch in the wall adjacent to the tower is the main entrance to the Kremlin. The Spasskaya Tower was built in the sixteenth century by Russian architects, but throughout its history it has been repeatedly rebuilt and restored. Initially, a church was erected on the site of the tower, in which the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands was kept, it was a kind of symbol of the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. A little later, the church was built on, and it turned out that it became, as it were, enclosed in the arms of the tower, which received the name Spasskaya. Since its construction, the tower has burned several times, after which it was restored. For a long time it housed an alarm bell, the strikes of which notified people of a fire. And in the eighteenth century, a clock was installed on the tower, which was originally with fixed hands, but with a rotating dial, and today it has been replaced by modern ones, which glow crimson in the evening during the battle. Also in the twentieth century, the tower was crowned with a large five-pointed star, which completed the modern look of a kind of "hostess" of the Kremlin.

From the main gates of the Kremlin there is a wide pavement made of paving stones, on both sides of which, on the sidewalks, beautiful lanterns. To the right of the entrance arch, a long two-story (and in some places even three-story) building originates yellow color– Complex of Presences. The provincial office was located here, in which there were rooms for lawyers, secretaries, small employees, as well as living rooms for the family of the governor-general, who was appointed to Kazan from the capital, banquet halls for festive receptions. The Chancellery was connected with the Consistory, one of the governing bodies of the Orthodox Church. The local bishop and his inner circle from among the high priests supervised church affairs. During the Soviet Union, the Consistory housed the Ministry of Health of the Autonomous Republic of Tatarstan.

The Complex of Offices also includes the L-shaped building adjacent to the Chancellery, which is closest to the wall near the Spasskaya Tower - the building of the Guardhouse, which until the twentieth century was the premises of military commanders. During civil war it received a different purpose: after the capture of Kazan by the White Guards, the Guardhouse became the last place of detention of party leaders, who were later shot near the Kremlin walls. Behind the guardhouse, in the very corner of the Kremlin territory, there is a small South-Eastern tower, which was part of the complex of defensive structures. By the way, there are several similar small round towers on the territory of the Kremlin, in addition to the South-East, there is also the South-Western, Nameless Round Tower, Konsistorskaya, and only fragments remain of the North-Eastern Tower.

On the left side of the Spasskaya Tower is the complex of the Transfiguration Monastery. From the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was destroyed by the Bolsheviks at the beginning in the first half of the twentieth century, now only a few parts have survived. Now the building is being restored. It is planned to place an archaeological museum here in the future. The Church of St. Nicholas the Ratny is getting used to the Cathedral, which survived in Soviet times due to the fact that it became a teahouse in a military unit, located at that time on the territory of the Kremlin. The Fraternal Corps adjoins the fence, which delimits the territory of the monastery complex and the footpath, which served as housing for the monks. On the territory of the monastery different eras burials of church ministers and noble people were organized, that is, in other words, there was a cemetery here.

The next building after the Fraternal Corps is the Manege, which today is part of the Khezine museum complex along with the Junkers' School. The Manege was built in 1880 and served as the venue for the exercises of the Kazan Military School. Now the Museum of Ancient Books and Manuscripts is being transferred to the building. The Junker School itself is an elongated three-story building in which the National Art Gallery, a branch of the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, and the Museum of Nature of Tatarstan are being formed. So this building is very rich in museums.

From behind the building of the school, the minarets of the Kul-Sharif mosque, the modern pearl of the Kazan Kremlin, are already looking out, shining with their splendor. The most beautiful Muslim temple, built for the anniversary of the capital of Tatarstan in 2005, fits perfectly into the architecture of ancient buildings. Without exaggeration, the mosque is beautiful! Its sparkling blue towers against the backdrop of the white walls of the Kremlin have already become a kind of hallmark of Kazan. The mosque brings a certain balance of Orthodox and Muslim culture within the walls of the Kremlin, and together with Orthodox churches personifies the friendship of the Tatar and Russian people - the main nationalities in Tatarstan.

The mosque got its start in 1996, when a stone with a memorial sign was laid on the territory behind the Junker School, on which is the text of the decree on the reconstruction of the mosque, which was once located on the territory of the Kremlin in the sixteenth century. The stone is now located near the already rebuilt mosque. The Kul-Sharif Mosque is richly decorated both outside - granite and marble decoration, and inside - Persian carpets, carved stone and wood decoration, gilding, beautiful stained-glass windows on the windows lie on the floors.

The entrances to the mosque are separate for men and women, as are the prayer halls themselves. Women are given headscarves to cover their heads, and skullcaps for men. It is undesirable to appear in the mosque in shorts and T-shirts, short skirts. This, however, applies to any temple. In the mosque you can also visit the Museum of Islam, which tells about the development of Islam in the Volga region. Entrance to the museum is paid separately, visiting the mosque itself is free.

On the territory of the Kul-Sharif complex there is also a small building similar in color and design to the mosque, nicknamed the "skullcap". It houses the fire department. Nowadays, large Muslim events are held in the mosque and on the site near the complex, the main shrine of Islam can accommodate about 1.5 thousand people.

Next large complex buildings along the course from the Junker School and the mosque is the Cannon Yard. During its history since the end of the seventeenth century the complex has been rebuilt many times, and now it consists of the Main (Eastern), Northern, Southern and Western buildings. At various times, there were arms factories, foundries for the production of guns, dormitories for officers, military warehouses and cellars for food. On the territory of the complex there are also the ruins of ancient walls and buildings, which, in contrast to the austere appearance of the restored buildings and the brilliance of the Kul-Sharif mosque, seem to send us mentally into the past.

The main building currently houses a dining room, the Armorial Hall, the Museum of the Cannon Yard. From afar you can see a long spire on the guard tower, with the inscription "Cannon yard" and a golden dragon - zilant, which is one of the iconic symbols of Kazan.

The northern building with a green roof and the flags of Tatarstan and Russia fluttering on it is reserved for the premises of the Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. Behind the Cannon Yard there is already a beautiful view of the Kazanka River, shining in the rays of the sun in fine weather.

And the Taynitskaya tower, rectangular, white stone, with a wooden roof, “guarded” the Kremlin borders in this area. It was built on the site of a tower blown up by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, and since there was a hiding place in it - underground passage to the spring, which allowed the besieged to extract water, then the new tower acquired its name thanks to this secret passage.

In the highest northern corner of the Kremlin is the complex of the Governor's Palace, which includes the Palace itself, the Palace Church, the Syuyumbike Tower and the nearby ruins of ancient mausoleums and towers. The Governor's Palace, the residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, is an operating administrative institution and is a beautiful two-story building of a pleasant, delicate green color, very beloved by the Tatars in architecture. Around the palace territory is fenced with fragments of elegant forging, large openwork gates for entry and two arches with wrought iron doors for the passage of people. The Presidential standard flutters on the roof of the palace. Everything looks very elegant, but without too much pomposity, it seems that at any time of the year it blows in the summer here. On the western side of the palace is the Palace Church, the entrance to which is also carried out from the second floor of the Palace through the passage. The Syuyumbike tower, located next to the church, made of red brick, and which is the architectural emblem of Kazan, I consider one of the most remarkable buildings of the Kremlin. This is the so-called "falling tower", it deviates slightly from its axis. During numerous restorations on this moment further movement of the tower is stopped.

The tower got its name after the first female queen in the history of the Muslim world. Syuyumbike was the wife of the last two Kazan khans, and after the death of her second husband, she became regent in the infancy of her son, who was supposed to be the heir to the throne. In the arch of the tower there is a beautiful forged gate depicting the sun, moon and signs of the zodiac.

From the Governor's Palace we pass to beautiful temple- Cathedral of the Annunciation. This is the oldest building that has survived to this day almost in its original form on the territory of the Kremlin, as well as the largest in size. Erected in the sixteenth century, the Cathedral experienced fires, reconstructions, and completions in its lifetime. separate parts. During the formation of Soviet power, a wonderful bell tower was destroyed. The cathedral was looted, rich interior decoration, icons, dishes, old books were taken out. Few of these have been preserved. In the nineties of the last century, a thorough restoration inside the temple began, it was painted by the best icon painters of the country, bit by bit recovering after the barbarism of the Bolsheviks. By the celebration of the millennium of Kazan, a huge amount of work was completed, and the cathedral, as if straightening its shoulders after many years of humiliation, proudly shone, giving those around it warmth and light. Now the Annunciation Cathedral is like the older Orthodox brother of the Kul-Sharif mosque. The same stately, snow-white, with the extraordinary beauty of the sky-colored domes with golden stars, only keeping a centuries-old history.

The territory near the Cathedral is in harmony with the temple itself, it has a lot of greenery, small Christmas trees, flower beds, benches for rest, gazebos entwined with bushes.

Here you can also see a monument to the architects of the Kazan Kremlin, one of which is a Tatar architect, and the second is a Russian one. This is a collective image of many famous and nameless creators of the appearance of the Kremlin. The architects were united by friendship and love for native land, they created side by side, built and restored.

Behind the Cathedral, there is a beautiful panoramic view from above of the Volga, the surroundings of the Kremlin, as well as a view of modern Kazan on the opposite bank of the river.

Near the small building of the Bishop's House, located near the Cathedral, which served as the residence of the head of the Orthodox Church of Kazan, there were historical fragments of the oldest Kremlin buildings. Everything here is conducive to spending time in peace, to think and enjoy the beauty of the creations of human hands, to mentally pay tribute to those people who created all this splendor that we can enjoy at the present time. One has only to come or come here once, and then return again and again to an alluring corner called the Kazan Kremlin.

Booking and reviews of hotels in Kazan

Hotel at the Kazan water park

There are so many interesting and memorable places in our country that a lifetime is not enough to see them all. Today we will go to Tatarstan. The attraction that the capital of the republic is proud of is the Kazan Kremlin, the oldest part of the city, a unique complex of historical, archaeological and architectural monuments that reveal the centuries-old history of the Tatar people, the ancient city and the republic as a whole.

The entire territory of the complex today is a museum-reserve, which has been under the protection of UNESCO since 2000. The Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan) is the main attraction of the republic. On a vast territory, Tatar and Russian cultural traditions are harmoniously combined.

After Kazan was taken by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, most of the Kremlin buildings were damaged, and almost all mosques were destroyed. The tsar ordered the construction of a white-stone Kremlin here, and for this purpose architects were sent from Pskov to build the Moscow Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed. The fortress was significantly expanded, and the wooden fortifications were replaced with stone ones in the first half of the 17th century.

In the 18th century, the Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan) lost its military function and became the cultural and administrative center of the Volga region. In subsequent centuries, the construction of the Governor's Palace, the cadet school, the bishop's house, the spiritual consistory, and the building of government offices were carried out here. In addition, the Annunciation Cathedral was reconstructed.

After the October Revolution (1917), the bell tower of the Annunciation Cathedral, the temple of the Spassky Monastery, the chapel at the Spassky Tower and other unique objects were destroyed in the Kazan Kremlin. In the nineties of the XX century, the Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan) became the residence of the President of the Republic. At this time, large-scale restoration work began.

Since 1995, work began on the construction of the Kul-Sharif mosque. Today it is one of the largest in Europe. The Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan) is a one-of-a-kind vivid example of the synthesis of Russian and Tatar architectural style. It is also the northernmost point of distribution of Islamic culture in the world.

Today, many tourists from different countries world visit Tatarstan. The attraction of the republic, which is of the greatest interest, is the Kazan Kremlin. It should be noted that in order to inspect all its facilities, it will take at least two days, and sightseeing tour lasts only an hour and a half. But, since we are not limited in time, we will get acquainted with the sights of the Kremlin in more detail.

Kremlin buildings

The Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan) is a museum-reserve occupying an area of ​​13.45 hectares. The perimeter of the walls is about 1.8 thousand meters. On this vast territory there are the Museum-Memorial of the Great Patriotic War, the Museum of Islam, the Hermitage-Kazan Center, the Museum of the History of Tatarstan and other institutions.

Spasskaya Tower

This tower houses the Front Gates to the Kremlin. The architects Shiryai and Yakovlev built the tower in 1556. The height of this building is 47 meters. The tetrahedral base has a straight arched opening. The octahedral tier has arched openings on each side and is a belfry where the alarm bell is located.

On top is a brick cone, which is crowned with a five-pointed star. Another octagonal cone contains a striking clock. They glorified the Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan). The interesting device of the first clock, which was installed in the 18th century, interested many foreign craftsmen who produce such mechanisms. This was explained by the fact that the clock was arranged very unusually - a dial rotated around the fixed hands.

They were changed to a traditional analogue in 1780. The clock, which is located on the walls of the Spasskaya Tower today, was installed in 1963. It is noteworthy that with the beginning of the chiming clock, the snow-white walls gradually turn into a rich crimson color.

Presences

The project of the provincial office was developed by the architect from Moscow V. I. Kaftyriev. The building appeared in the Kremlin at the end of the 18th century. There were offices (for receptions) and living rooms for the governor's family. The second floor was reserved for a luxurious throne room with choirs for the orchestra. In the place where the Sovereign's Court was located in the 15th-17th centuries, a guardhouse was built in the middle of the 19th century.

Today, the premises of the former office house the Department of External Relations of the President of Tatarstan, the Central Election Commission and the Arbitration Court.

Transfiguration Monastery

The Kazan Kremlin, the description of which can be seen in almost all advertising brochures of the city, is famous for another object. The monastery complex is located in the southeast of the Kremlin territory. In the center of it are the remains of the Transfiguration Cathedral, destroyed in the twenties of the XX century. At the foot of the main wall of the cathedral, you can see a small cave, which since 1596 was the burial place of the Kazan wonderworkers.

The fraternal building borders on the fence of the monastery. Monastic cells were built here in 1670. Much later, a gallery and a treasury house were erected. The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, as well as the chambers of the archimandrite, are located at the western wall of the complex. The church building was reconstructed according to the project of A. Schmidt in 1815. Interestingly, during the reconstruction, the basement of the 16th century was preserved in its original form.

Junker School

On the territory of the Kremlin there is an arena, which was built according to the project built earlier in St. Petersburg. This building was intended for military training. Today it houses the Institute of Literature and Art. Ibragimov. Behind the arena is the school building. It was created by the architect Pyatnitsky as a barracks for cantonists.

The building was handed over to the military department in 1861, later a cadet school was opened in it.

Kul Sharif Mosque

In the courtyard of the school is the most beautiful mosque in the city. Four minarets soared fifty-seven meters into the sky. The capacity of this grandiose building is 1500 people. The minarets are painted in turquoise, which gives the structure a surprisingly light appearance. In addition to the mosque, the complex includes a huge open library-museum, a publishing center and the office of the imam.

A rounded small beautiful building with a turquoise dome, located south of the mosque, is a fire station, which is stylistically associated with architectural complex. Kul Sharif was re-established in 2005. Funds for its construction were donated by the townspeople, as well as enterprises of the capital.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

This is the oldest stone building in Kazan, which has survived to this day. It was consecrated in 1562. The architecture of the cathedral traces the trends of Pskov, Vladimir, Ukrainian and Moscow architecture. Helmet-shaped domes, located on the side domes, were replaced in 1736 with bulbous ones. The central dome is made in the Ukrainian baroque style.

In the main basement of the temple, a museum of Orthodoxy of the Volga region was created. A little further is the house of the bishop, which was built in 1829 on the site where the palace of the Kazan bishops used to be. The consistory completes the ensemble. This building was rebuilt from the bishop's stables.

Artillery Yard

Behind the mosque and the school is the Cannon Yard, or rather, its southern building. Exactly this ancient building complex - it was built at the very beginning of the 17th century. An artillery factory began operating here in the 19th century. And last year there was a restoration. The creation of the exposition of the Museum of the Cannon Yard began.

Nowadays, permanent exhibitions, demonstrations of fashion collections, chamber performances are held on the territory of the complex. Near the southern building you can see a fragment of a brick building on a stone foundation. According to the depth of occurrence, this object belongs to the Khan's era of the Kremlin. In those days, houses were built here.

Governor's Palace

It was built in 1848 for the governor of Kazan with royal chambers for especially honored guests. The work was supervised by K. A. Ton, who is known for his amazing works. This is the Cathedral of Christ and the Bolshoi in Moscow. The Khan's palace ensemble used to be on this site.

The second floor of the palace is connected with the palace church by a passage. It was called Vvedenskaya, it was built in the 17th century. Inside the church, today the Museum of the History of Statehood operates, and the president of Tatarstan and his family live in the governor's palace.

Tower Syuyumbike

This is the symbol of Kazan. The tower was named after the Tatar queen. According to the legend, Ivan the Terrible, having learned about the beauty of Syuyumbika, sent messengers to Kazan with an offer to the beautiful girl to become the Moscow queen. But the envoys brought a refusal from the proud beauty. The enraged tsar captured Kazan. The girl was forced to agree to the proposal of Ivan the Terrible, but she put forward a condition: that in seven days there should be a tower in the city that would eclipse all existing minarets in height.

Ivan the Terrible fulfilled the desire of his beloved. During the festive feast, Syuyumbike said that she wanted to take a farewell hometown view from the height of the newly built tower. Climbing to the top platform, she rushed down.

Outwardly, this building is very reminiscent of the Moscow Kremlin. Unfortunately, there is no exact data on the time of creation of this attraction.

The tower consists of five tiers, which are decreasing in size. The last levels are octahedrons, which are crowned by a tent in the form of an octagonal truncated pyramid and a spire with a crescent. From the spire to the ground, the height of the structure is 58 meters. In the last century, three reconstructions took place here, as it was recorded. Today, the deviation from the vertical of the spire is 1.98 meters.

Taynitskaya tower

Below Syuyumbike are the Tainitsky entrance gates. This name was given to them in honor of the dungeon that leads to the source. During the siege of the city, it was used by local residents. Formerly a tower called Nur-Ali. Russian residents of the city called her Muraleeva. It was blown up during the capture of the Kremlin. It was through these gates that Ivan IV entered the city.

The tower was restored, but the architectural decoration was made in the 17th century. Now on the upper tier there is a cafe "Muraleevy Vorota".

Kazan Kremlin: tours, prices, opening hours

guests of the city and local residents the excursion department of the Kremlin invites you to take a walk around the museum-reserve, accompanied by professional staff. Tours are conducted in Tatar, Russian, German, English, Turkish, Italian and French.

The entrance through the Spasskaya Tower is open daily. The entrance to the Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan) is also carried out through the Tainitskaya Tower. Opening hours: in summer - from 8:00 to 22:00, and in winter - until 18:00.

The cost of the tour for a group of six people is 1360 rubles. From a group of more than six people - 210 rubles per adult.

How to get there?

The Kazan Kremlin (Tatarstan), whose address is Kremlevskaya, 2, is located on the left bank of the Volga. You can get here by buses No. 6, 29, 37, 47, trolleybuses No. 4, 10, 1 and 18. Stop "TsUM", "St. Bauman" or by metro - stop "Kremlevskaya".

The main and most visited attraction of Kazan is undoubtedly. Since January 1994, a museum-reserve has been operating on its territory, which is a unique cultural object. And although the Kremlin buildings are examples of the development of the Russian period in the history of Kazan from the middle of the 16th century, nevertheless, the layout and town-planning composition of the former Tatar fortress have been preserved in general terms.

On the Kremlin territory, which occupies almost 150 thousand square meters, there are currently existing state institutions of Tatarstan, interesting museum expositions, architectural structures of the 16th-19th centuries, among which the following stand out: Governor's Palace and the beautiful silhouette of a Muslim mosque Kul Sharif, monolith Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral and a mysterious tower soaring up Syuyumbike.

The Kazan Kremlin, combining the styles of Russian and Tatar architecture, is recognized at the world level. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2000 declared it a protected site.

However, before taking an introductory tour of the Kazan Kremlin, it is necessary to recreate the chronology of significant historical milestones in the formation of the city, which began right here - on the high Kremlin hill.

A Brief History of the Kremlin

The territory of the Kremlin hill, due to its favorable location, began to be settled from ancient times, but how did the city of Kazan appear on this place as a result of the actions of the last Bulgarian princes, who moved closer to the Volga from the city Iske-Kazan and founded a fortress on this high hill at the end of the 14th century. At that time, Kazan did not achieve particularly powerful development - it was too weak politically and militarily.

But in the first half of the 15th century, this Volga city chose the former Golden Horde Khan for his residence Ulu-Mahmet (Muhammed). It was under him, as a result of his military and political activity, that Kazan became the main city of a powerful Kazan Khanate- the center where trade, culture and the Islamic religion developed. Under him and his followers, the Kazan Kremlin was built and strengthened, the Khan's palace ensemble, mosques, minarets and other urban constructions were erected.

Kazan is the capital of the Kazan Khanate - picture

However, in parallel with the development of the Kazan Khanate, the Muscovite state was growing and strengthening, and, naturally, friction constantly arose between these two powerful state associations, which were most often resolved by military means. Made a few times Ivan groznyj trips to Kazan, but only after the construction of a fortified fortress in Sviyazhsk, after a long siege and the use of gunpowder to undermine the fortifications, the Russian tsar was able to take possession of the Tatar city. It happened on a memorable day October 2, 1552.

And here with mid 16th centuryka a completely different history of Kazan and the region begins. The subjugated Muslim population was either exterminated or evicted from the central part across the Bulak River. For many centuries, they tried to completely destroy Islam as the main religion of the region, the Tatar population was subjected to forced baptism, mosques were destroyed. Strongholds of Christianity were erected everywhere - churches and monasteries. Even on small Kremlin lands, in commemoration of the long-awaited victory, three Orthodox buildings were immediately built: Church of the Annunciation, Church of the Savior and Church of Cyprian and Ustinya. In the future, four more churches were built, and monastic brotherhoods were created: Spaso-Preobrazhenskoye and Trinity-Sergius.

The territory of the entire conquered region is actively populated Russian settlers. Naturally, they also settled in the Kazan Kremlin, whose population included representatives of the military service class, clergy, officials of the highest administration and bureaucratic groups. By the end of the 16th century, there were about a hundred households here.

Thus, by the second half of the 16th century, practically nothing had survived from Kazan, the center of the once powerful Kazan Khanate. The assault on the Muslim city on October 2 in 1552 by Russian troops, the siege that preceded it and the subsequent pogrom of the city, led to the fact that the architectural monuments of the Muslim period of the 14th-16th centuries in Kazan were almost completely destroyed. In addition, the Kremlin was wooden before the capture of Kazan by the Russians, which means that during the assault and as a result of subsequent destructive fires, even the few surviving buildings of Muslim Kazan were irretrievably lost.

After the capture of Kazan, the main task of the Moscow government was strengthening the military-strategic position Kazan fortress in case of uprisings and keeping the subjugated population in obedience. Since the fortress walls were destroyed during the assault, the first thing that was done on the orders of Ivan the Terrible was the restoration of a wooden fence, and after 3 years, in parallel with the construction of stone Orthodox churches, Pskov craftsmen began Withconstruction of white stone walls from the Volga limestone. Moreover, the territory of the Kremlin was expanded towards the Spasskaya Tower 120 meters east of its original territory.

Massive, roughly hewn slabs of this stone can be seen on the example of the lower tier of the Spasskaya Tower. But then only 600 meters of the wall were built of limestone, the rest were restored in wooden form. Only in the 17th century, already from red brick, the remaining 1150 meters of the fortress wall with towers were erected, encircling the Kremlin territory around the entire perimeter.

Kazan of the 16th century, like all strategically important ancient cities consisted of two parts: from the city proper(fortresses, kremlin, etc.) and posada, i.e. a settlement located outside the fortress walls, but in turn also walled and fortified. The Kremlin, of course, was a more ancient and administratively significant settlement than the settlement.

Over the centuries, the Kremlin buildings have been repeatedly burned, attacked from outside, which led to the loss of some buildings and the appearance of others. So, for example, as a result of the storming of the Kremlin Emelyan Pugachev in 1773, the Trinity Monastery was lost and several towers were thoroughly damaged, which subsequently had to be dismantled.

The erection of new buildings on the Kremlin land already in 18th century determined by its role as the administrative center of Russia. Appear Ensemble Governor's Palace, arrays of military buildings Junker School And Offices, there are such structures as spiritual consistory And bishop's palace.

October Revolution of 1917 made fundamental changes in the history of the Kazan Kremlin - began period of destruction of religious buildings. This fate affected almost all the Kremlin churches, and the government and various ministries and departments of the new government are located in the premises of the former consistory, bishops' and governor's palaces. The cadet school housed the created United Tatar-Bashkir military school.

90s of the 20th century were marked by a new historical sharp turn - the beginning of the era of the revival of historical values. Fundamental restoration and restoration work begins in the surviving architectural monuments, the largest mosque in Europe - Kul-Sharif is being built, interesting museum exhibitions and expositions are opening.

If you examine the Kazan Kremlin in detail and with visits to museums, but in one visit to cover its entire scale is simply unrealistic. But in order to get a general impression, especially if you get at least a little knowledge of the history of the development of this not very large, but historically rich territory, it is enough 3-4 hours. Take advantage of our travel tips and historical tips on your guided tour of the Kremlin.

Study tour around the territory of the Kazan Kremlin

So, we offer to start acquaintance with the Kazan Kremlin from Spasskaya tower, the most important and elegant tower of the Kremlin. A small space in front of them - May 1 Square - is the oldest forum of the city, the main commercial and public space from the 15th to the 19th centuries, a place of trade and communication between the townspeople, the Kremlin and the visiting population.

Spasskaya Tower

On May 1 Square there is one of the main entrances to the territory of the Kremlin - Spasskaya Tower, perhaps one of its most interesting objects. As the main entrance tower, it has always been adapted to the needs of the era. Initially, it was a military two-tiered tower with a cranked passage, with a moat in front of it and a drawbridge. Then, already the front tower, with the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the main facade. In Soviet times, it was also an architectural expression of the era. And although the May 1 Square itself eventually lost its historical meaning, The Spasskaya Tower of the Kazan Kremlin has remained a symbol and a "visiting card" of the city.

Through the arched entrance under the Spasskaya Tower we enter the only half-kilometer Kremlin street - J. Sheikman passage, which was named in memory of the chairman of the Kazan Council shot here by the White Guards in 1918.

For a better understanding of the historical and architectural layout of the Kremlin territory, we propose to divide it into five thematic zones:

Each of these groups includes several architectural and historical sights.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

To the left of the arch of the Spasskaya Tower are the ruins of one of the first Kazan monasteries founded by Ivan the Terrible himself - the Transfiguration of the Savior, which existed here until the end of the 20s of the 19th century. A visit to this monastery, its description, as well as Churches of Cyprian and Ustinya, which was located here, are still present in the guide to Kazan in 1927!

Transfiguration Cathedral

The authors of this guide talk about the fact that everyday Church of Cyprian and Ustinya was built not just at the behest of Ivan the Terrible, but in all likelihood at his own expense. But that first wooden church perished in a fire at the end of the 16th century and was replaced by a stone one, with exact preservation appearance and the size of the previous one.

Church of Cyprian and Ustinya

five-headed Transfiguration Cathedral, the main cathedral of the monastery, was built in stone at the beginning of the 17th century and, they say, amazed contemporaries with its architecture and beauty. But the authors of the 1927 guidebook were outraged, first of all, by "the colossal waste of the country's material resources for religious needs." Each generation has its own attitude to historical monuments. But at one time, this monastery was the second in importance in the region, giving way only to Uspensky in Sviyazhsk.

The territory occupied by the Transfiguration Monastery was small - less than one hectare, and was separated from the only Kremlin street by a stone fence, and in the south and west by the Kremlin walls. This territorially small monastery is known for the names of the most prominent clergy of a bygone era. Here the first archbishop of Kazan was tonsured - St. Gury- This is where he was buried. This burial gave rise to the formation of a monastery churchyard, where famous clergymen, prominent representatives of the merchant class, professors and officials subsequently found peace. Here he was buried and Barsanuphius- Founder of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. For some time he was a member of the monastery brethren. Filaret, who later founded the Raifa Monastery.

Closer to the Spasskaya Tower - on the sidewalk, the place where the monastery bell tower. At first it was in a wooden form, then it stood on one of the galleries of the Transfiguration Cathedral, already being made of stone. And from the end of the 19th century, tall and beautiful, she, rebuilt on the Varvara Church, instead of the dilapidated one, proudly looked from behind the walls of the Kremlin to Ivanovskaya Square.

Bell tower of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

In the very center of the former territory of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, today you can see a partially preserved basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral, built at the end of the 17th century on a stone foundation of the 16th century. Based on these archaeological remains, one can judge the scale of the building and the history of its construction and numerous reconstructions. If the basement is the era of the second half of the 16th century, then its northern and southern galleries are the result of improvements in the 18th century. The galleries served as covered corridors between the cathedral, the rector's house and Nicholas Church.

Basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral

Preserved in front of the altar and "cave"- a small stone recess with a vault, which served as a place of calm Kazan wonderworkers at the end of the 16th century.

Almost adjacent to the western Kremlin wall, there is a reconstructed Nikola Ratny Church(Wonderworker). At first it was a small temple with a large two-story white-stone refectory. As a result of numerous reconstructions, an L-shaped structure was obtained, uniting the temple, the refectory and the abbot's chambers.

And in the northeast of the cathedral, near the monastery fence, there is a preserved building of fraternal cells, erected here in the second half of the 17th century, with an attached to it in the 18th century. three-story treasure house.

At the end of the fence, the color on the pavement indicates the location of the Church of Cyprian and Ustinya, where it stood until the end of the 20s of the last century.

Having bypassed the entire small territory of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, we return to Y. Sheikman Street. From two sides in front of us, low stone 2-3-story buildings go to the horizon. Left- along the passage of Sheikman - the buildings of the former Junker School, erected at the beginning of the 19th century on the site of the second ancient Kremlin monastery previously located here - Trinity-Sergius. And in parallel with the Junkers School - on right- a series of buildings stands as a continuous monolith Offices ending with the former consistory.

Office Buildings

So, to the right of the Spasskaya Tower along the passage stretches a line of administrative buildings of the complex that has developed since the end of the 18th century. The complex begins with an L-shaped structure, pressed against the southeastern corner of the fortress walls - this is the former guardhouse Kazan garrison of the middle of the 19th century - a three-story brick building, ascetic in design, with large rectangular openings and a low roof. Soviet activists captured by the White Guards in the summer of 1918 were kept in this building. Among them were Y. Sheikman and M. Vakhitov, M. Mezhlauk and S. Gassar .... they were all shot at the Kremlin wall.

And before the construction of the guardhouse, from the middle of the 16th century, the residence of the “Big Governor”, ​​the so-called Sovereign Court. The "Big Governor" was the highest representative of the administration in the region conquered by the Russians. He enjoyed the widest powers, both civil and military, could execute or pardon, send punitive detachments against the rebellious Tatar villages. The governor also kept the keys to the gates of the Spasskaya Tower. The sovereign's court of the 16th-17th centuries was a large and spacious wooden structure. Near it were three prison buildings. All these structures were lost as a result of one of the numerous fires in the Kremlin.

After the building of the guardhouse there is an extended articulation Buildings Offices(18-19 centuries). These two, partly three-storey buildings with a basement are a building of different times. Its oldest part is the building of the former consistory, built at the end of the 18th century according to the project V. Koftyreva, but according to its purpose, it adjoins the architectural ensemble of the Annunciation Church.

Office Buildings

The consistory was adjacent to the premises of the provincial office, which at the beginning of the 19th century became House of the Kazan Governor for which additional premises were added. As a result, a very presentable two-story building with 15 windows was formed. The lower floor was occupied by office space and the quarters of the viceroy's family. The second floor had a magnificent throne room with choirs for the orchestra. It was there that grandiose balls were held for representatives of the highest Russian and Tatar nobility. One of these balls was given in 1798 in connection with the arrival of Emperor Paul the First in Kazan.

The facade view of the building is well preserved from the side of the courtyard, where you can admire the preserved decor in the form of a risalit, rusticated pilasters, niches of window openings, decorated with a decorative panel with various images at the top and bottom of the windows. All these decorations gave a certain representativeness to the administrative building, which was also completed with halls for the Offices. The main façade of the Presences is very austere in design. The number of storeys is horizontally underlined by cornices. Almost all the windows are decorated with rectangles of architraves, except for the elegantly framed windows of the former consistory and the House of the Kazan Governor.

In Soviet times, the ensemble of Government offices was occupied by various ministries and departments, the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Tatarstan, etc. Now the building is undergoing a major overhaul, and all institutions have found another home.

Opposite the Ensemble of Presences stretches the Ensemble of buildings that belonged to the former Junkers School, which includes the building of the school itself, the combat arena and the Cannon Yard.

Ensemble of the Junker School

Arena

Immediately after the Transfigured Monastery of the Savior, before the main building of the Junkers School, an architectural and historical landmark stands separately from it - a drill Arena. This capacious building is surprising in its design - it was used for drills.

The main façade of the building is decorated with rustication, into which pilasters, vanes and edging of arched windows are embedded. Now here is showroom, which hosts various thematic events - exhibitions with guided tours, a master class for children and adults, festive balls, film screenings, conferences and concerts.

Going down into the courtyard of the Manezh, we will find ourselves on a vast platform laid with decorative bricks, on which stands a wonderful building of modern architecture - the amazing and magnificent blue and white mosque Kul-Sharif.

Kul Sharif Mosque

Erected at the end of the 20th century in memory of the Muslim center of the Kazan Khanate, the mosque has become a symbol of Kazan, its "visiting card" and a true decoration of the Kremlin.

You need to admire the mosque from the outside, be sure to go inside to admire the architectural completeness of this truly grandiose and monumental creation and, if possible, visit M bonds of islam. After visiting the mosque, we go to the main building of the Junker School, which has its own architectural and historical destiny.

Junker School

At the very beginning of the 19th century a barracks is being built in the Kazan Kremlin for cantonists- this was the name of young and underage boys of the lower army military ranks, as well as Polish, Jewish, Finnish and Gypsy children from poor families, who were forcibly taken into recruits almost from the age of 8. Later, the cantonist barracks are restored and transferred to in 1866 newly established Junker military school.

Junker School

The two-story barracks were built on during the Soviet period with one more floor. From pre-revolutionary times, the design of the three entrances of the main facade, decorated with canopies, has been preserved. Chebaksin forging, in which the interweaving of various colors into the pattern is clearly visible. Today, in the former barracks, inside which powerful three-flight staircases based on brick arches have been preserved, there are wonderful modern museums. Here you can visit National Art Gallery "Khazine", representing paintings by famous Tatar artists (B. Urmanche, Kh. Yakupov, I. Zaripov, N. Feshin, etc.), an exposition Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Natural History Museum And exhibition hall "Hermitage".

Art Gallery

Choose any museum or thematic exhibition and stroll through the halls and stairs of the former Junkers School.

cannon yard

Leaving the museum complex of the old Junker School, passing a little forward through the entrance gate of the 17th century, we find ourselves in cannon yard. It was called the Cannon, Arsenal or Artillery Yard, and it was originally attached to the fortress western wall. It fully took shape here by the end of the 17th century, and at first it was a simple U-shaped structure. Before the annexation of Kazan, the Khan's military training ground was located on this site, the Khan's troops and the military arsenal were based.

cannon yard

The territory of the Cannon Yard was a place for the manufacture, storage and repair of large weapons. The two-story main building, supplemented on both sides by the same one-story buildings and decorated with towers at the corners, had a passage gate that has survived to this day through which we entered. On the very territory of the courtyard you can see a partially preserved Southern building, containing the archaeological remains of industrial premises.

Southern building of the Cannon Yard

In 1812, the reconstruction of the Cannon Yard was carried out. A new one was built along the western side. Forge Corps, but then all the buildings of the Cannon Yard were badly damaged by the fire of 1815, after which the repair and production of weapons ceased. Further, the fate of the Cannon Yard was closely intertwined with the opening military school, for which the architect Schmidt carried out a number of restoration works and since 1866 all these restored premises were occupied Junker School.

Now, on the recreated territory of the Cannon Yard, museum exhibitions military weapons of various historical eras, and in the restored Blacksmith's Building you can buy various works of craftsmen made of leather, metal, wood, etc., as well as drink fragrant tea with Tatar national sweets. If you want to refresh yourself more thoroughly, then you can go to Cafe "Cannon Yard", and then, after resting, move again through the territory of the Kazan Kremlin, opening its new amazing pages.

Leaving through the same arched passage gate, you will find yourself opposite a small public garden where we invite you to visit. This is a compact landscaped green oasis among the stone structures of the Kremlin, in the middle of which there is a symbolic Monument to the Architects of the Kazan Kremlin, summarizing in its images the memory of Russian and Tatar builders who worked on the Kremlin territory.

Monument to the Architects of the Kazan Kremlin

This square is the connecting center of the architectural and historical ensemble of the Annunciation Church, which can include: the former Bishop's Palace, miraculously survived architectural monument 16th century - Annunciation Cathedral and the former consistory. Let's get to know them in order.

Ensemble of the Annunciation Cathedral

Consistory

From the south, the territory of the ensemble of the Annunciation Cathedral is outlined by the former spiritual consistory, which is tightly adjacent to one of the towers of the Kazan Kremlin - Konsistorskaya. A two-storey consistory was built here in the 18th century. Previously, these lands belonged to the bishop's stables.

The formation of the building continued in different periods. The Consistory completes the line of the ensemble of Public Places. The window architraves of the main facade are decorated in the style of Russian patterned architecture and give the building an elegant look.

Bishop's Palace

From the southeast of the Annunciation Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace built in 1829 is clearly visible. It was intended for the church head of the entire Kazan district. In the 16th century, this place was hut of St. Guria, then, from the 17th century, the bishop's palace-residence was located here. Time and fires destroyed the building of the 17th century, and a new brick palace building was rebuilt - two-story, covered with a complex hip roof. Erected in the classical style in the eastern facade, it had three ledges, in the central one there was home church of St. Guria.

Bishop's Palace

In the middle of the 20th century, in Soviet times, the third floor was completed, which greatly modified the former bishop's palace. The loss of the attic of the central façade and the disappearance of the tent completion of the central ledge on the eastern façade turned the building into an unremarkable three-story building. Today, as a result of the restoration work of the palace in 2010-13, it has been returned to its original appearance of the late classicism era.

Restoration work of the Bishop's Palace

Now posted here Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. Be sure to walk around the palace, from the back side you will see the risalits, the central one of which is the former house church of St. Guriya. In addition, bypassing the building, you will find yourself on a wonderful observation deck, from where there are beautiful views of the Kremlin embankment and the Palace of Agriculture, the restored monasteries and churches, the far-flung prospect of the opposite bank of the Kazanka with a Ferris wheel, a Chalice and other building structures.

View from the observation deck

For those who want to see everything in more detail, a telescope is installed on the site.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

Having familiarized yourself with the building of the bishop's palace and having examined the consistories, you can get acquainted in more detail and closely with the remarkable building of the 16th century - the Annunciation Cathedral.

Former Cathedral , built by Pskov masters, has undergone many architectural reconstructions, survived the times of wars and revolutions, miraculously was not destroyed, and then completely restored. Today it is a worthy decoration of the Kazan Kremlin, a functioning Orthodox cathedral and a historical and architectural monument open to the public.

Visible from the side of the park chapel of St. Guria whose relics are now kept in the temple. Having bypassed the cathedral from its southern side, boldly climb the porch and go to the temple itself, inspect its decoration, the recreated wall painting, the iconostasis, its western and eastern aisles, dedicated one to Boris and Gleb, and the other to Peter and Fevronia.

Leaving the Church of the Annunciation, linger on its porch and once again admire the beautiful building of the Cannon Yard, the red-brick tower of Syuyumbike towering to the north and the beautiful governor's palace, which is located behind beautiful closed gates.

After a visual inspection of the new objects, we will go down from the porch and go to get acquainted with the last architectural ensemble located in the very north of the Kazan Kremlin - the Governor's Palace, which, with the Syuyumbike Tower and the Vvedenskaya Church, forms a harmonious complex.

Description of the ensemble of the Governor's Palace

Governor's Palace

In the Kazan Khanate crushed in the middle of the 16th century, before the annexation of Kazan to the Russian state, these northern lands occupied khan's court, which included the Khan's palace, mosques, minarets, mausoleums with burial places of Kazan khans, many government and economic buildings. All these medieval buildings, divided into sectors, were well fortified, partly surrounded by stone walls, partly wooden. The foundations of the mosques and the palace were also built of stone. Archaeological excavations of this complex, named Khan Jami, made it possible to find out the series interesting facts and find the burial places of the famous khans of Kazan.

After the storming of 1552, almost all the buildings of the Khan's palace were badly damaged, but the palace itself was not completely destroyed, it existed until 1807, being mentioned in Russian chronicles as "the old sovereign's court". Next to it at one time there was a house of the chief commandant. Then, by the middle of the 19th century, a mansion was built instead military governor of Kazan.

The building was designed by the famous Russian architect K.Ton, famous for such famous Moscow buildings as the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The interiors inside the palace were designed by a Kazan architect M. Korinfsky.

Double decker Governor's Palace(about 30 meters high) was built in the style of Russian classicism, with a simple symmetrical layout, rustication and division by the Corinthian order. But elements of Baroque, Muslim and Old Russian architecture were added to the design of the facade of the palace, which gave the building an eclectic look.

The center of the building is a risalit (ledge) decorated with a pediment of three keeled arches. Window and door openings are also decorated in the form of arches. The view at the governor's palace is solemnly respectable. The solemnity and solidity of the building is added by a beautifully designed palace square with a fountain and flower beds and openwork gate through which we can admire the residence of the current president of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Gate of the Governor's Palace

The Governor's Palace in its status existed before the October Revolution, and it was in its halls that Soviet power in the region was proclaimed. And then, during the long Soviet period, the building of the former Governor's Palace was occupied by the Supreme Council and the Council of Ministers of the TASSR.

After admiring the palace and rounding the governor's gate on the left, we come to the mysterious, legendary landmark - Syuyumbike Tower.

Tower Syuyumbike

This architectural structure, which has become a symbol and "calling card" of the city, still causes controversy and various judgments about the time, authorship and purpose of the building. But there are more legends about it than about any other object of the Kremlin! A seven-tier "falling" red-brick tower without any special architectural frills, whose name is connected in some strange way with the name the last Tatar queen, invariably attracts the close attention of all tourists.

Tower Syuyumbike

On the left, near the Syuyumbike tower, you can see the mothballed archaeological excavations that revealed in this place burial places of some Kazan khans who were reburied in a specially created Mausoleum. You can see part of the Mausoleum through the viewing glass dome. Further, on the right in the direction of travel, the Vvedenskaya Church appears in front of us, compositionally connected with the Governor's Palace.

Vvedenskaya Church

It is believed that this church was built on the remaining foundation Tatar Muraliev Mosque period of the Kazan Khanate. However, this is also controversial. The time of construction of the temple is usually attributed to the 17th century, although the deep, solid foundation dates back to the 16th century. It may have been built in the 17th century, but as a result of repeated fires, it was rebuilt during restoration.

Now the church is a two-tiered, formerly five-domed, and now one-domed temple (about 30 meters high). Its architectural similarity of the stepped construction with the lower tier of the Syuyumbike tower, which is also equipped with a wide promenade, is surprising. This is another unsolved mystery of the Kazan Kremlin.

During the functioning of the governor's palace, the church played the role of a brownie for the governor's family and at the same time a parish for the servants and guards of the palace. The church was served by one clergyman who lived directly in the palace. At the beginning of the 18th century, the church, according to its purpose, became military and is now called Church in the name of the Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God at the Kazan battalion. Later it was used as a regimental church of the Sviyazhsky garrison.

The church was repeatedly burned, after fires it was restored, sometimes with a very long break. For example, after a terrible fire in 1815, there was a gunpowder warehouse for a long time in a burnt, dilapidated church building. By order Minister of War M.B. Barclay de Tolly, the destroyed part of the church was dismantled, and everything of value was given to the pupils of the military orphanage department of the cantonists for the construction of the building. Military functions were transferred to the Church of the Savior.

The temple was put in order only by the middle of the 19th century, and by personal order Nicholas I, who was in Kazan and saw his deplorable state. restored church architect F. Petondi, which largely changed the appearance and layout of the building, but retained the schematic and stylistics of the previous structure. The galleries of two floors were closed, the main entrance was moved to the western side, the interiors were decorated in the style of classicism with baroque elements, which can be seen in the lush corner capitals, elegant window frames, etc.

The revived temple was consecrated as Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. On the lower floor there is a chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the icon for this chapel was donated to the temple by the descendants of poet E. Boratynsky living in Kazan. The second floor was equipped with a chapel of St. Martyr Alexandra. A covered gallery connected the temple with the governor's palace.

1918 did not become an exception for the temple - like all other church buildings, it was closed and looted. In Soviet times, it housed a canteen for employees of numerous ministries and departments who lived on the Kremlin territory. Now the building of the temple has been restored and it houses Museum of Tatar Statehood which we also recommend you visit. But, before you go up the wide porch to the Vvedensky Church, look into the courtyard between the Syuyumbike tower and the temple, where you can look at the mothballed archaeological research in 1977 who discovered here the remains of a cult complex of the Tatar period: part of the wall, the foundation of the mosque, tombstones.

Having examined the building of the Vvedenskaya Church and the museums located in it, we recommend going down to the northernmost travel tower of the Kazan Kremlin, built by Pskov craftsmen in the 16th century - Taynitskaya, and, leaving through it, go around the fortress walls on the left along the Kremlin hill. During this walk, you can admire the panorama of the city and carefully examine unique monuments medieval defensive architecture - walls and towers of the Kremlin.

Walls and towers of the Kazan Kremlin

The Kazan Kremlin was created as fortification and, of course, was surrounded by strong walls with loopholes, watch and battle towers, some of which were travel. During the time of the Kazan Khanate and earlier, the walls were mostly wooden. After the capture of Kazan, the strategic importance of the walls remained very important and therefore they were restored in the first place. At first as wooden fortifications, but soon they began to be rebuilt in stone from white limestone, and in the 17th century already from red brick.

The width of the walls is about 6 m, the height varies from 8 to 12, and the total length is 1800 m. Special niches were arranged in the walls for storing ammunition, which could be observed when walking through the inner territory. There were thirteen tower structures at the beginning. Among them were round, travel, and even one five-sided. But some of them were destroyed in different centuries and for different reasons - their mothballed foundations can be seen today. So before us

Taynitskaya tower

The Taynitskaya tower as a sentinel tower was equipped with gates, gratings and had a cranked passage, passing through which you feel the breath of the Middle Ages emanating from the white Volga limestone. And now we go out to the left onto the path that goes along the upper ridge of the Kremlin hill.

Next we will see northwest tower, or rather, only its foundation. But the next one is round Nameless brick tower, built in the 17th century, has survived to this day. Behind the wall adjacent to the tower you can see the tops of the Forge buildings of the Cannon Yard. Further, we again see only the base of the tower - once there was a five-sided tower built in the 16th century by Pskov craftsmen.

A little further - a quadrangular travel tower - Preobrazhenskaya. Its inner side adjoined the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. It was built by Pskov masters in the 16th century, but later it was rebuilt several times. In the distant times of the prosperity of the Kazan Khanate, the Kremlin territory ended here, and then the stretching walls go along the territory enlarged by the Russians.

Having reached the next round tower, called southwestern and which was built together with the Spasskaya Tower, we will admire the surviving example of a medieval Pskov defensive structure. And, finally, we turn to the already well-known Spasskaya Tower, a little further away from which there is a similar South-Western round southeast tower.

On this, the description of the territory of the Kazan Kremlin can be considered complete, but we are sure that you will return here more than once to once again feel the connection of times, admire the amazingly organic and beautiful architectural monuments of the Kazan Kremlin, visit interesting exhibitions and museums, and just take a walk along the already familiar and favorite places.

Plan of the Kazan Kremlin in 1730

No historian will name the exact date of the construction of the Kazan Kremlin. Researchers believe that the complex appeared between the 10th and 12th centuries. At first, all buildings were built of wood, and the Kremlin itself consisted of fortress walls. But every year more and more buildings appeared, and then the complex turned into a real city - this is how Kazan was born. First, the fortress was an outpost for the Bulgar princes, then for the khans of the Golden Horde. From the 16th century, it came under the control of the Russian state - it was captured by Ivan the Terrible.

At first, the troops turned the Kremlin fortifications into ruins, but it is from this moment that a new page in the history of the complex begins. Ivan the Terrible started a grand reconstruction of the Kremlin: architects and masons arrived from Pskov. For six years, the masters have changed the appearance of the building beyond recognition. Orthodox churches, bell towers and towers appeared on the territory. Instead of wooden fortifications, stone ones were erected. This citadel was famous for a long time as the most impregnable fortress of medieval Rus'.

But in the 18th century, this function became unimportant - the state expanded its borders. Only during the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev, the Kremlin was used as a fortification during the siege of Kazan. After that, the complex lost its military purpose completely. From the end of the 19th century, the fortress began to take on a modern architectural image, and today it is a symbol of reconciliation between Orthodoxy and Islam.

Guarded by a dragon

The main entrance to the Kremlin lies through the Spasskaya Tower - on May Day Square. Pay attention to the statue of the Dragon Zilant. This creature is considered a symbol of Kazan and the protector of the city. There are many legends about the Kazan basilisk - it is believed that the monster lives at the bottom of the lake and the hills at the mouth of the river, it happens in the surrounding forests.

Particularly stands out Spasskaya Tower - the main part of the complex. Sheinkman Street stretches from it - the former Bolshaya, which was the most basic in the Kremlin. This tower was built later than the others - in the 17th century as a symbol of the greatness of Rus'. Pskov craftsmen have worked hard to create a traditional Russian bell tower with a majestic eagle on its spire. For a long time there was a church inside, and a chapel nearby. But later the building was dismantled, making a through entrance.

The Spasskaya Tower is not the only one; only eight of the original thirteen have survived. No less interesting is Taynitskaya, also built in the 17th century. A massive lower and a miniature upper tier, a magnificent view of the city from the promenade - all this deserves attention.

Reliable protection

After admiring the towers, take a look at the walls. Once upon a time there was a wooden structure in their place. After the seizure of the territory by Ivan the Terrible, they were updated, and then the Kremlin was completely made of wood. Under the reliable protection of the walls there are many buildings: the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, the Manege, the Junker School.

For many visitors, the Kul-Sharif mosque becomes a favorite place. It is called the pearl of the Kremlin, but the real attraction was destroyed during the time of Ivan the Terrible. Not even pictures of the building remain. On the site of the disappeared medieval Islamic shrine, it was decided to build a new one. During the construction of the structure, the architects adhered to their own ideas. They took as a basis the “Kazan hat” - the crown of the khans of Kazan. In 2005, for the 1000th anniversary of the city, a new facility was solemnly opened.

The modern mosque has eight minarets decorated with crescents. Inside there is a museum of Islam and ancient manuscripts, a prayer hall, a library, a gallery for women and an observation deck. The mosque primarily serves as a cultural, educational and scientific center. The rules for visiting are the same as in Orthodox churches. You can go inside freely, but you need to buy shoe covers at the entrance. Women will need to wear a headscarf and cover their knees - a long skirt is required. Men do not need a hat.

Visitors are impressed by the interior decoration - ceramic panels and murals. Creating ornaments, the masters adhered to the techniques of the 16th century. Windows are tall and narrow lancet arches and bright stained glass windows. Persian handmade carpets add luxury - they cover more than 2 thousand square meters. Tourists admire the decoration of the mosque from observation balconies.

If you go downstairs, you can buy a souvenir as a keepsake. They sell various little things: from a painted spoon to a fridge magnet. Religious literature is also sold at the entrance. Adjacent to the modern masterpiece is a building made in the same style - the fire department. Behind the mosque is the residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. The palace combines the features of Russian baroque, classicism and ancient Russian architecture. But guests of the Kremlin are usually in a hurry to see the Syuyumbike Tower and the Cathedral of the Annunciation.

Kazan Leaning Tower

The top of Syuyumbike is deviated from the vertical by almost two meters - such a roll is visible to the naked eye. The tower was built back in the 17th century on the foundation of a sentinel guard building. But the calculations turned out to be incorrect, and immediately after the construction, the structure began to gradually tilt. It was decided to correct the mistake only in the 1990s, when restoration work was carried out. Here, tourists are advised to touch the tower and make a wish - they say it comes true.

Place of tranquility

Another miracle of the Kazan Kremlin is the Cathedral of the Annunciation. It is believed that Ivan the Terrible himself drove a wooden cross on the site for construction. This church became the first Orthodox cathedral in the Middle Volga region. Today it is a functioning temple. Behind the building is a miniature park.

After sightseeing, go to the observation deck, which offers a wonderful view of the embankment of the Kazanka River. From here you can see the bridge and the local water park. The Holy Assumption Convent is clearly visible, its golden domes shining in the sun.

Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kazan Kremlin

Museum complexes

Curious visitors can get acquainted with the museum expositions. Among those regularly working are the Hermitage-Kazan, the Museum of Islam, the art gallery of the Republic of Tatarstan, National Museum, settlement "Kazan Kremlin". To the left of the mosque are the remains of the Cannon Yard, where an arms factory was once located. Today, the eponymous museum welcomes guests here.

Festive Kremlin

A visit to the majestic complex is always an event, but during the festivals there is a festive atmosphere. Every year, at the beginning of summer, a stage is built near the walls of the Kremlin. Famous musicians, both Russian and foreign, sing at the International Live Music Festival. In September, a festival of modern culture is organized inside the complex. The Kremlin is becoming a venue for exhibitions, concerts and performances.

The Kul Sharif Mosque and the building of the fire station in the Kazan Kremlin

How to get there

There will be no difficulties in finding a famous attraction. The first option is to go to public transport to the "Palace of Sports" "Central Stadium" or stop "TsUM". The second way is to take the subway to the "Kremlevskaya". Adherents of hiking can walk along Moskovskaya and Bauman streets.