Kazan

For other uses, see the capital city of Tatarstan.

Kazan
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Kazan
Kazan Location of Kazan
Coordinates: 55°47′27″N 49°6′52″E
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Tatarstan
Founded	1005 (Julian)
Elevation	60 m (200 ft)
Population
• Estimate  (2018)	1,243,500
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK )
Postal code(s)	420000–420999
OKTMO ID	92701000001

Kazan (Russian: Каза́нь; Tatar: Казан, Qazan) is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and one of Russia's largest cities. It is a major industrial, commercial and cultural center, and remains the most important center of Tatar culture. Since April 2009 Kazan has the legal right to “brand” itself as the “Third Capital” of Russia, approved by Russian Patent Office. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in central European Russia.

Name

The origin of the name is unclear. The literal translation of the Tatar word qazan is a boiler or cauldron. Alternately, it may have been derived from qazğan, Tatar for dug [ditch].

"Qazan" is originally a name for a special cooking pan, a variant of a wok, but more solid and heavier. It was believed that the city of Kazan is named after this object because of its geographical similarity with a "qazan"-pan; namely the city is situated in a U-shaped lowland.

Another, more romantic legend tells a story of a Tatar princess Söyembikä, who dropped a golden dish (golden qazan) in to the river on which the city is located while washing it.

Additionally, Chuvash legends refer to the Bulgarian Prince Khusan (Хусан) (Chuvash rendering of the Muslim name Hasan) and Chuvashes call this city Хусан after the name of this prince, Hasan.

History

File:Kazan Kremlin night.jpeg

The view of the Kazan Kremlin

Main dates

• End of the Xth — beginning of the XIth century - the city was founded
• End of the XIVth — beginning of the XVth century Kazan becomes a capital of Kazan khanate
• 1408 - starts to mint own coins
• 1552 Kazan was seized by Ivan IV Grozny and Kazan khanate became a part of Russian state
• 1556 - construction of modern Kremlin
• Since 1708 - centre of Kazan province
• 1759 - the first provincial classical school was opened
• 1771 - two madrasahs were opened (Akhun and Apanay)
• 1791 - first theatre was opened
• 1804 - Kazan State University was opened
• 1874 - gas lighting in Kazan
• 1896 - was built railroad to Moscow
• 1899 - electrical tram and urban water supply started to work
• 1920 - Kazan is a capital of Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialistic Republic (and then Tatarstan)
• 1979 - population is over 1 million inhabitants
• 2005 - Kazan Metro was opened

Descriptive

There is a long-running dispute as to whether Kazan was founded by the Volga Bulgars in the early Middle Ages or by the Tatars of the Golden Horde in the mid-fifteenth century, as written records before the latter period are sparse. If there were a Bulgar City on the site, estimates of its foundation range from the early 11th century to the late 13th century (see Iske Qazan). It was a block-post on the border between Volga Bulgaria and Finnic tribes (Mari, Udmurt). Another vexed question is where the citadel was built originally. Archaeological explorations have produced evidence of an urban settlement in three parts of the modern city: in the Kremlin, in Bişbalta in the place of modern Zilantaw monastery and near the Qaban lake. The oldest was the Kremlin which could be dated back to the 11th century.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, Kazan could have shielded a Volga trade route from Scandinavia to Iran. It was a trade center, and possibly a major city for Bulgar settlers in the Kazan region, although their capital was at the city of Bolğar further South.

In the 13th century, re-settlers came to Kazan from Bolğar and Bilär area, which had been ruined by the Mongols. Kazan became a center of a duchy, which was a dependency of the Golden Horde. In 1430s Hordian Tatars (such as Ghiasetdin) usurped power in the duchy, which was ruled by Bolghar dynasty before.

Some Tatars also went to Lithuania, brought back by Vytautas the Great. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania's influence spread as far east as here.

After the destruction of the Golden Horde, Kazan became the capital of the powerful Khanate of Kazan (1438). The city bazaar Taş Ayaq (Stone Leg)' became the most important trade center in the region, especially for furniture. The citadel and Bolaq channel were reconstructed, giving the city a strong defensive capacity. The Russians managed to occupy the city briefly several times, but before 1552 they withdrew.

In 1552, the city was conquered by Russia under Ivan the Terrible and the majority of the population was massacred. During the governorship of Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky, most of the khanates's Tatar residents were killed, repressed, or forcibly Christianized. Mosques and palaces were ruined. The surviving Tatar population was moved to a place 50 km away from the city and this place was forcibly settled by Russian farmers and soldiers. Tatars in the Russian service were settled in the Tatar Bistäse settlement near the city's wall. Later Tatar merchants and handicraft masters also settled there.

Kazan was largely destroyed as a result of several great fires. After one of them in 1579, the icon Our Lady of Kazan was discovered in the city. During the Time of Troubles in Russia the independence of the Kazan Khanate was restored with the help of the Russian population, but this independence was suppressed by Kuzma Minin in 1612. The history of that period requires further research.

In 1708, the Khanate of Kazan was abolished, and Kazan became the center of a guberniya. After Peter the Great's visit, the city became a shipbuilding base for the Caspian fleet.

The major Russian poet Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin was born in Kazan in 1743, the son of a poor country squire of Tatar origin though himself having a thorough Russian identity and making a substantial contribution to Russian culture.

Kazan was largely destroyed in 1774 as a result of a revolt by border troops and peasants led by the Don Cossack ataman (captain) Yemelyan Pugachev, but was rebuilt soon afterwards, during the reign of Catherine the Great. Catherine also decreed that mosques could again be built in Kazan, the first being Marjani Mosque. But discrimination against the Tatars continued.

In the beginning of the 19th century Kazan State University and Printing Press were founded by Alexander I. The Qur'an was first printed in Kazan in 1801, and it became an important centre for Oriental Studies in Russia. By the end of the 19th century, Kazan had become an industrial center of the Middle Volga. People from neighboring villages came to the city looking for work. In 1875, a horse tramway appeared; 1899 saw the installation of a tramway.

After the Russian Revolution of 1905, Tatars were allowed to revive Kazan as a Tatar cultural center. The first Tatar theater and the first Tatar newspaper appeared.

In 1917 1917 Kazan Gunpowder Plant fire occurred in Kazan. In 1918, Kazan was a capital of the Idel-Ural State, which was suppressed by the Bolshevist government. In August 1918 it was shortly occupied by White Czechs. In 1920 (after the October Revolution), Kazan became the center of Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1920s and 1930s, most of the city's mosques and churches were destroyed (as occurred elsewhere in the USSR).

During World War II, many industrial plants and factories were evacuated to Kazan, and the city subsequently became a center of the military industry, producing tanks and planes.

In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the USSR, Kazan again became the center of Tatar culture, and separatist tendencies intensified. Since 2000, the city has been undergoing a total renovation. The historical centre, including its Kremlin, has been rebuilt. A single-line metro opened on 27 August 2005. The Kazan Metro has six stations. But there are plans to extend the line in both directions. Kazan celebrated its millennium in 2005, when the largest mosque in Russia, Qolsharif, was inaugurated in the Kremlin, and the holiest copy of Our Lady of Kazan was returned to the city. Major objects like Millennium Bridge also were inaugurated that year. The date of the "millennium", however, was fixed rather arbitrarily.

Historical population

Bauman Street

• 1550–50,000
• 1708–40,000
• 1830–43,900
• 1839–51,600
• 1859–60,600
• 1862–63,100
• 1883–140,000
• 1897–130,000
• 1917–206,600
• 1926–179,000
• 1939–398,000
• 1959–667,000
• 1979–989,000
• 1989–1,094,400
• 1997–1,076,000
• 2000–1,089,500
• 2002–1,105,289 (census)
• 2008-1,120,200
• 2009-1,130,717

Historical naming

See also: Iske Qazan

• Tatar (now, 1928–1939): Qazan;
• (1939–2000): Казан;
• (1918–1928): قازان ;
• (1918–1922), Arab: قزان ;
• Russian: Каза́нь [Kazan];
• Arab (hist.): Bulgar al-Jadid (in Tatar transliteration:Bolğar âl-Cädid) - New Bolğar;
• German: Kasan, Latin: Casan, French: Kazan, Latvian: Kazaņa, Polish: Kazań,
• Finnish: (Old) Kasaani (New) Kasani

Climate

Kazan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with long cold winters and warm, often hot dry summers. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near 20 °C (68 °F), coldest - January −12 °C (10 °F).

Climate data for Kazan (1971 - 2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source:

Central Kazan

Kremlin

Main article: Kazan Kremlin

The city has a beautiful citadel (Russian: kreml, or, sometimes, Tatar: kirman), which was declared the World Heritage Site in 2000. Major monuments in the kremlin are the 5-domed 6-columned Annunciation Cathedral (1561-62) and the mysterious leaning Soyembika Tower, named after the last queen of Kazan and regarded as the city's most conspicuous landmark.

Also of interest are the towers and walls, erected in the 16th and 17th centuries but later reconstructed; the Qol-Şarif mosque, which is already rebuilt inside the citadel; remains of the Saviour Monastery (its splendid 16th-century cathedral having been demolished by the Bolsheviks) with the Spasskaya Tower; and the Governor's House (1843-53), designed by Konstantin Thon, now the Palace of the President of Tatarstan.

Next door, the ornate baroque Sts-Peter-and-Paul's Cathedral on Qawi Nacmi Street and Marcani mosque on Qayum Nasiri Street date back to the 18th century.

Bistä or Posad

Nurulla Mosque

Central Kazan is divided into two districts by the Bolaq canal and Lake Qaban. The first district (Qazan Bistäse or Kazanskiy Posad), historically Russian, is situated on the hill, the second (İske Tatar Bistäse or Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda), historically Tatar, is situated between the Bolaq and the Volga. Mosques, such as Nurullah, Soltan, Bornay, Apanay, Äcem, Märcani, İske Taş, Zäñgär are in the Tatar district. Churches, such as Blagoveschenskaya, Varvarinskaya, Nikol'skaya, Tikhvinskaya, are mostly in the Russian part of the city. The main city-centre streets are Bauman, Kreml, Dzerjinski, Tuqay, Puşkin, Butlerov, Gorkiy, Karl Marx and Märcani.

An old legend says that in 1552, before the Russian invasion, wealthy Tatars (baylar) hid gold and silver in Lake Qaban.

Wooden Kazan

In the beginning of 1990s most of Central Kazan was covered by wooden buildings, usually consisting of two floors. There was a historical environment of Kazan citizens, but not the best place to live in. During the Republican programme "The liquidation of old apartments" most of them (unlike other Russian cities), especially in Central Kazan, where the land isn't cheap, were destroyed and their population was moved to new areas at the suburb of the city (Azino, Azino-2, Quartal 39). Nearly 100,000 citizens resettled by this programme.

Other Major Buildings

Another significant building in central Kazan is the former "Smolentzev and Shmelev" tea house and hotel, now the Shalyapin Palace Hotel. It is located at 7/80 Universitetskaya Street, at the corner of Universitetskaya and Bauman. A major landmark of late-19th and early-20th century commercial architecture, it consists of two portions. The original portion, built for a merchant named Usmanov in the 1860s, was bought by the inter-related families of Efim Smolentzev and Pavel and Nikolai Shmelev in 1899. They operated a store selling, among other things, tea. In 1910, the Smolentevs and Shmelevs constructed another portion, designed by architect Vasili Trifonov, and operated a hotel there. After the Russian Revolution, the building eventually became the Hotel Soviet and after 2000 it was heavily renovated to reopen as the Shalyapin Palace Hotel.

Education

Primary and secondary education

Primary and secondary education system of Kazan includes:

• 282 kindergartens, most of them are municipal
• 178 schools, 2 of them are private
• 28 vocational technical schools
• 15 colleges
• 10 special colleges

There are also 49 music schools, 10 fine-arts schools and 43 sports schools.

Higher education

Kazan State University

• Kazan State University was founded in 1804 and has had several prominent students, including Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, Leo Tolstoy and Lenin. Unversity is famous for outstanding scietific discoveries: Non-Euclidean geometry(Lobachevsky), Ruthenium chemical element (Karl Klauss), theory of chemical structure (Butlerov), electron paramagnetic resonance (Zavoisky). KSU includes 14 faculties, 4 institutes and 2 branches (in Naberezhnie Chelny and Zelenodolsk). There are 16 000 students and 615 aspirants in KSU.
• Kazan State Technological University (KCTI) is one of the largest establishments of Russia and has more than centennial history, which is connected with formation of technical education in Russia and Republic Tatarstan. On July 14, 1890 join secondary chemical and technological school and primary technical school with vocational training in mechanics, chemistry and construction was created in Kazan. There are more than 27 000 students on the 11 faculties of KSTU (KCTI).
• Kazan State Technical University (KAI) was established in 1932. Today the University is one of the leading institutions in the development of aircraft and rocket engineering, engine- and instrument-production, computer science and radio engineering. There are more than 16 000 students on the 9 faculties of KSTU (KAI).
• Kazan State Medical University is one of leading medical universities of Russia.
• Kazan State Finance and Economics Institute trains economists for finance and credit system and industry.
• Kazan State Energetics University trains engineers for energetics sector. There are more than 12 000 students in KSEU.

Government and administration

Administrative division

File:Kazan districts map.jpg

Kazan is divided into seven districts:

№	District	Population	Area (km²)
1	Aviastroitelny	109,582	38.91
2	Vakhitovsky	93,083	25.82
3	Kirovsky	110,465	108.79
4	Moskovsky	132,400	38.81
5	Novo-Savinovsky	196,783	20.66
6	Privolzhsky	222,602	115.77
7	Sovetsky	240,374	76.87

Mayor

See also: List of Kazan mayors

Mayor is the head of the city. İlsur Metşin has been the mayor of Kazan since November 17, 2005

City Duma

Kazan town hall

Kazan City Duma is a representative body of the city, elected every four years.

Executive committee

Executive committee is a municipal body of the executive organs. Commitee's head is Rafis Burganov, since January 17, 2008.

Consulates

Two consulates general are found in Kazan.

• Consulate-General of Iran.
• Consulate-General of Turkey.

Economy

Macroeconomics

Kazan is a large industrial and financial centre of Russia.

Main indicators of 2008

Indicator	Value	Gross to 2007
Total output volume, rub	123,6 bln.	107,4 %
Employed, inh.	565 000
GRP, rub	271,3 bln	105 %
Average income, rub	17 300	134 %
Retailing turnover, rub	211 bln	120,5 %
Investions, rub	102 bln
Expenditure, rub	18,361 bln
Revenue, rub	17,76 bln
Deficit, rub	0,601 bln

Plant facilities

Several Top-500 Russian companies are headquartered within city boundaries:

• TAIF (192,10 bln rub. annual receipt)
• Tatenergo (47,13 bln rub.)
• Kazanorgsintez (21,19 bln rub.)
• Transtechservice (14,87 bln rub)
• Vamin (9,7 bln rub.)

There are 151 large- and middle-scale enterprises in Kazan city, 98 of them are JSCs. Main industries machinery construction, chemicals and petrochemicals, light and food industries. Factory shipments in 2008 year total 94,8 bln rub.

Main enterprises of the city:

• Kazanorgsintez

«Kazanorgsintez» JSC produces 38 % of Russian polyethylene. Also it produces a large scale of petrochemical and chemical products.

• Kazan State Powder Mill

Founded in 1788.

• Kazan helicopters plant

Produces «Mi» helicopters.

• Kazan Aircraft Production Association

KAPO currently produces Tu-214 passenger planes and Tu-160 strategic bombers. There are also plans to start producing Tu-334 regional airliners and Tu-330 freighters.

• Kazan optical mechanics plant
• Kazan motors building production association
• «NEFIS-cosmetics» JSC (Kazan chemical complex)

Produces a large scale of cleansing agents

• Kazan brewery

Is a proper of EFES group.

• Kazan medical apparatus plant
• Kazan rubber plant («KVART» JSC)
• Kazan heat devices plant
• Kazan artificial leather plant

Banks

Largest banks of Kazan city are:

• Ak Bars Bank — net wealth for 01.10.08 — 190 bln rub.
• Tatfondbank — 40 bln rub.
• «Kazansky» bank — 10 bln rub.
• «Spurt» bank — 9,4 bln rub.
• Energobank — 9,0 bln rub.
• Intechbank — 5,6 bln rub.
• «Ipoteka-invest» — 3,6 bln rub.
• «Zarech'e»
• Tatecobank
• Tatinvestbank
• Akibank
• BTA-Kazan

Tourism

Unique combination of historical city and modern megalopolis makes possible to attract tourists to the Kazan. 345 thousands tourists have visited Kazan in 2004, 550 thousands in 2005 and 800 thousands in 2007.

Kazan Kremlin attracts more than 200 thousands tourists per year .

Construction

Apartment houses construction (thousands m²)

Year	Value
2000	541,8
2003	611,3
2004	874,7
2005	632,0
2006	729,6
2007	742,3
2008	901,5

Languages

Russian and Tatar languages are widely spoken in the city. Russian is understood by practically all the population, apart from some older Tatars. Tatar is widely spoken mainly by Tatars. The offensive term Mankurt (Mañqort) is used for Tatars who are ashamed of their own culture and language.

City ethnic communities

Tatars and Russians

The city's population is mainly composed of Tatars (about 52 percent) and Russians (about 43 percent).

Other communities

Native Middle-Volgans

All Religions Temple. A building and cultural center built by the local artist Ildar Khanov.

The city's third ethnos is Chuvash (1.2%), who speak their own language, but also Turkic languages group. They are Russian Orthodox with some pre-Christian elements in their religion. Other native for Middle Volga nation are Maris (0.3%), Udmurts (0.1%), Mordvas (0.2%) and Bashkirs (0.2%). Some of them speak Tatar, some Russian and others their own languages. Bashkirs are Muslims, others, like Chuvash, are Russian Orthodox with some pre-Christian elements in their religion.

Some Mari come to Kazan for seasonal work, mostly woodwork and carpentry. They build summer houses and saunas for local people. Chuvash and Mari come to the city every day from their republics and sell potatoes and mushrooms at bazaars.

Ethnic Germans

Ethnic Germans came to Kazan from the 18th century. They served in the Russian Army, or worked in Kazan State University. Some of them are very famous in Kazan, particularly professor Karl Fuchs. During World War II most of them were repressed by Stalin's government.

Today Kazan Germans mostly speak Russian.

Other groups

Assurs (Assyrians)

Group of Assurs also live in Kazan. By tradition, they work at shoe repairing. Their community lives a closely guarded life: and they do not mix with other communities.

Immigrants in the Soviet period

During World War II a lot of the populations of what would become, after annexation during the war, the Western Soviet Union were deported to Kazan, including schools, educational institutes, and plants. Some of that population did not return to their native lands. They are: Jews, Ukranians, Belarusians, Poles, and others (nearly 2.5% of population). They speak Russian, sometimes with Ukrainian accent, and many Jews speak Tatar.

Immigrants in the 1990s

One of the biggest Kazan communities is the Azeri community. Most of them are unregistered and work illegally. Azeri tradesmen control all the bazaars. They often sell imitation clothes of famous trademarks or fruits. The number of Azeris is very big. Interestingly, Azeri speak both Russian and Tatar well.

Other Caucasians come from Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia and others. They often own cafés or work in construction.

Another big community is the Central Asian community, which includes Uzbeks, Tajiks, Roma (Lyuli branch) and Kyrgyz. Some of the Uzbeks and Tajiks own cafés or fast-food restaurants; they sell dried apricots, popular among Kazan citizens.

Transport

Kazan train station

Night aerial view of Kazan

Kazan is served by Kazan Airport, which is located approximately 30 kilometers from the city centre. There is also the Kazan Borisoglebskoye airfield which contains a major aircraft factory. Until recently there was Kazan-2 Airport at the eastern end of the city, but it has been pulled down as a new hippodrome has been built in its place.

Kazan is connected with Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Yoshkar-Ola and Yekaterinburg by railways and highways. There are highway connections to Samara, Orenburg, Ufa, Cheboksary, Naberezhnye Chelny (Yar Çallı), Almetyevsk (Älmät), Bugulma (Bögelmä), and Chistopol (Çístay).

There are municipal tramways, trolleybuses and private buses. There are five bridges across the Kazanka (Qazansu), and one bridge connecting Kazan with the opposite bank of the Volga.

Kazan public transportations

A single-line Kazan Metro, the north-southeast Central Line, opened on 27 August 2005. The Kazan Metro now has six stations, but there are plans to extend the line in both directions and is due to cross the Kazanka river with the station Kozya slobada in late 2009.

Sports

Men's teams:

• Ice hockey (KHL) - Aq Bars Kazan (3-time champion; 2007 IIHF European Champions Cup & 2008 IIHF Continental Cup winner)
• Soccer (Russian Premier League) - FC Rubin Kazan (2008 champion)
• Basketball (Russian Basketball Super League) - UNICS Kazan (4-time runner-up; 2-time Cup holder; 2004 FIBA Europe League winner)
• Volleyball (Russian Superleague) - VC Zenit Kazan (2-time champion; 2008 CEV Champions League winner)
• Water Polo (Higher League) - Sintez (2007 champion; 2005 Cup holder; 2007 LEN Cup winner)
• Bandy (Higher League) - Dinamo (2002 Cup finalist, 2009 bronze medalist)
• Rugby League (Russian League) - Strela (6-time champion)
• Field Hockey (Russian League) - Dinamo (5-time champion)
• Team Handball - KAI-Zilant (dissolved in 2008);
• Futsal - Privolzhanin (dissolved in 2004);

Famous athletes

• Ruslan Nigmatullin - football player
• Denis Arkhipov - hockey player

As announced on 31 May, 2008, Kazan is the host city for the 2013 Summer Universiade. It was the second attempt, as the propose for 2011 Summer Universiade had failed.

International cooperation

Sister cities

Braunschweig (Germany), since 1988 College Station, Texas (USA), since 1990 Eskişehir (Turkey), since 1990 Balıkesir (Turkey), since 1990 Monufia_Governorate (Egypt), since 1997 Qalyubia Governorate (Egypt), с 2001 Hyderabad, India (India), с 2001 Urbino (Italy), since 2001 Hangzhou (China), since 2002 Istanbul (Turkey), since 2002 Jūrmala (Latvia), since 2002 Antalya (Turkey), since 2003 Shumen Province (Bulgaria), since 2003 Tabriz (Iran), since 2009

International organisations membership

• Organization of World Heritage Cities
• United Cities and Local Governments
• Twin Cities International Association
• Historic Cities International Association
• General Conference of Mayors for Peace

See also

• People from Kazan

Further reading

• Álvarez Veinguer, Aurora (2007). "(Re)Presenting Identities: National Archipelagos in Kazan". Nationalities Papers. 35 (3): 457–476. doi:10.1080/00905990701368704. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |quotes=, |laysource=, |laysummary=, and |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Template:En icon Kazan city tourist portal
• Template:En icon The City of Kazan
• Template:En icon Kazan millenium
• Template:En icon Universiade Kazan 2013
• Kazan 1000 years old
• The history of Islamic religion in Kazan
• Kazan - Global Stroll
• Images of the Kazan Kremlin and famous Mosque Interactive Google Maps Kazan Kremlin
• http://www.kazan-memory.uni-tuebingen.de/indexee.html - Student project about Kazan's history (central aspects: memory, religion)
• map of Kazan
• The architecture of Kazan (in rus)