Report about tour to Kazan

Kazan' was founded by the Bolgars in 1288.

Dmitrii in the winter of 1376-77 mounted a campaign to the east against the Kama Bolgars. The Moscow war party bolstered by troops from Suzdal', pursued the "Bolgars." The enemy met the Russian war party in March 1377 at the approaches to Kazan'. The Bolgars "Stasha na boi I nachasha strelyati, a inyye s gorodu grom pushchakhu strashashe russkiye polki, a inyye iz samostrelov strelyakhu, a druzii na verblyudakh vyezhzhasha, poloshayushche koni russkiye; oni zhe nikakogo zhe sego strashakhusya, no krepko stasha protivu na boi I ustremishasya yedinodushno na nikh..." This extract from the chronicles recounts how the archers shot at the opposing force, how the enemy fired canons from the city which frightened the Russian regiments, and how others used arquebuses, and made sorties on camels aimed at frightening the Russian cavalry which where not moved but kept their ground and in unison with the foot soldiers fell upon the enemy. The Bolgars retreated in haste into their city and were compelled to receive tribute collectors and customs agents from Moscow. This information is from the Historian E.A. Razin.

Tour of the city of Kazan' by bus with information on the geographic local. Our local guide told us about the city and its history. Some of the photographs we made during this and several other tours to Kazan are located here

The guide began, "I would like to disappoint you somewhat, because if you think you arrived in Kazan' on the Volga river, you are mistaken. This is the Kuibyshev Water Reservoir. The Volga flows from Volgograd for 450 kilometers to Astrakhan'. All the way there are eight water reservoirs. In 1957, the eight reservoirs became the so-called Kuibyshev Water Reservoir. The Volga which had been 1.5 kilometers wide, was now 10 kilometers wide. To prevent additional flooding of the area, a dam was built which was 14 meters high and 28 kilometers long. This saved the oldest section of Kazan'.

"Kazan' is situated 800 kilometers from Moscow by railway and is also 800 kilometers from the Ural mountains. The city is situated along the Volga in the middle course of the river. Trade emanated from the north on the river and from the East on camel caravans. Many merchants sailed on the Volga to Kazan'. This trade became very attractive to the Tsar Ivan The Terrible, who decided to conquer this area. The first measure taken was to build a fortress city not far away from Kazan'. You may have seen this town on an island which is called Sviazhsk. The fortress was pre-assembled and then shipped in parts from Uglich. In 1552, Ivan the Terrible conquered Kazan'. The city was divided into two parts. One Tatar, one Russian. In 1922 the old inhabitants of Kazan', the Tatar population accepted Islam. Until the middle of the 16th, the Tatar lands were also the lands of Islam. Russian Orthodox proselytizing began in the middle of the 16th century. The only thing that one should note here is that the mosque is not facing the same way as are the houses. The Mosque is built pointing to Mecca. For the worshipers it is important to know that Mecca is situated in that direction. Five times a day a man rises to the top of the minaret to call Muslims to pray to God. The old town of Kazan' is divided into small sections. In Tatar they are called Mikhalya. Each section has its own mosque. The mosque is not only the place in which one talks with Allah, but it is where boys are taught grammar by the mullah. His wife teaches the girls how to read and write. Presently, the children come to learn on Sundays. The children are taught how to read the Koran in Arabic. There are twenty four mosques in the city. There are seven hundred forty mosques in the Tatar republic."

We then entered the hall where the men worship. "The niche represents Mecca. The men enter and form rows on the rugs. The mosque is not built according to Tatar tradition. It is built in the Arabic style. It is airy, and well lit by large windows. The minaret is built separately. In the east the weather is warm, there is no snow. The Tatar Muslims are the most northern adherents to that religion. The Tatars built mosques with sharp angles roofs so that the snow would not weigh down on the roof. The minaret was built as part of the mosque. The question was asked as to when was the mosque built. In 1767, Catherine the Great arrived in Kazan' and after her visit all the mosques that you will see were built at that time. All the mosques where destroyed when Ivan the Terrible took the city. The highest minaret in the city is 51 meters high. The mosque is called the "pyatnichyi mechet,' or the mosque of the "Sacred Day."

"As I have already mentioned, in the 16th century the city was divided into two parts. A Tatar and a Russian part. Well, the Russian winners kept the best part for themselves and gave the worst part to the Tatars. In the spring time this part of the city was continuously flooded and made it difficult to grow crops. It was not a very suitable place to live. Presently, the citizenry are also being encouraged to move away from this part of the city. A lot of industrial enterprises are occupying this area and the historical part will be transformed into a museum under the open sky. It will be called the Old Tatar Sloboda."

Our bus ran along the buildings of a beer factory built in 1978. Yeltsyn's heart operation was performed with surgical tools manufactured in Kazan'. There is a mosque standing nearby. New Tatars are rich too. The architecture is different but it faces Mecca. In Soviet times it was used as a dance hall. It is now a functioning mosque and is also the Islamic University. We traveled along the main road of the Tatar Sloboda dating from the 18th century. To the left our guide pointed out an interesting house in an oriental style. This house was presented by a Tatar merchant to his daughter.

"Now we are coming to a mosque which even under Soviet rule was never closed. This mosque is one of the richest ones in the city and the most revered. This is the Tatar type of mosque which I had described to you."

We entered a courtyard and then were led into a vestibule. Some young people exiting the mosque were dressed in Tatar traditional garb.

This part of the old Tatar city will be restored anew. We entered through the main entrance into the principal prayer hall of the Mosque. It faces Mecca. The walls of the hall are decorated with Tatar motifs. There are five obligations of the Muslims. One is to offer a fourth of ones income to the mosque. There were always many that responded to the call to prayer. Another is to pray five times a day. During Ramadan holiday to fast for thirty days, and to visit Mecca once in a lifetime, the only God is Allah and Mohamed is his prophet. In old fundamental mosques there where only inscriptions telling of this on the walls. In the other mosque you saw inscriptions and decorations which where done at a later time than those in this one. Old fundamental Islam did not allow any kind of decorations. No animals including man where permitted. Nothing between God and man. The carpets are not only a decoration but a ritual habit. A Muslim called to pray to God should be clean. The mosque was built in 1767 on the ruins of an old mosque. The first one built during that period. The Tatar culture has been preserved in this part of the city. It has for instance given rise to a theater company. Islam does not permit any theatrical performances. The intellectuals always wanted to have fun. A hundred years ago they created a theater company. In 1989 they built the building housing the Tatar Academic Theater. A big hall for one thousand people, and a small hall for 120 people. The theater is very popular. Because they had limited real estate space, the building pylons where driven into the lake Bulak bottom. The river Kabak runs to the lake and then to the Kazanka and then to the Volga. The Kremlin was up on the hill behind the central part of the city.