I’ve fallen in love with Kazan
What can I say about Kazan?
It is a beautiful city. Perhaps the most beautiful I’ve ever visited. Kazan didn’t quite manage to overshadow everything I experienced in Mongolia, but I no longer feel like Mongolia was completely without rival. Kazan makes a play for the gold.
We arrived in Kazan after nearly 72 hours on the train. We were tired (as you can only be tired after a long journey), desperate to move, and desperate to get to the hotel and shower. (That last desperation was probably more mine than Steve’s.) Our train arrived at a secondary train station that was not near the “good stuff” in Kazan, but we saw signs for the metro as soon as we exited the train, and in about two minutes (and 20 rubles–very cheap) we were on a metro train, headed for the Kremlin and our hotel.
We walked out of the metro and there–there!–was the Kremlin wall, and peeking over it the Kul Sharif Mosque.
And that was it, right there. I was already in love with Kazan.
It took us maybe 10 minutes to walk from the metro station to our hotel, where we both took quick showers and then headed off for dinner. After dinner, we strolled around, following the streets to the Kremlin and marveling at building after beautiful building, lit up and glowing.
Around us, people walked. Lovers sat on benches near the Kremlin gate, chatting and holding hands. It was a very social, comfortable place to walk after dark, and I remarked on that because Irkutsk had felt strangely different; after dark, the streets there were empty and strangely quiet.
We had two full days to wander Kazan, and I loved every minute of it. (Although my feet yelled at me a bit; it was a lot of walking.) Everywhere I looked, there was something marvelous. And everyone we met was friendly. Or so it seemed.
The Kul Sharif Mosque
I am putting this gallery first because the mosque was the first thing we saw when we got off the metro in Kazan. The building is so beautiful and so new, that it can dominate your perceptions of the city (although it is certainly not visible everywhere). I also like the purpose of the mosque: it was built with “the idea of preserving the cultural balance between the two main populous nations of Tatarstan” (from Kazan: The Portrait in the Impressionist Style by Sergey Sokolov, which I picked up at a random shop in town).
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- This view of the Kul Sharif Mosque greeted us as we exited the metro station on our way the hotel. It made quite an impression.
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- The Kul Sharif Mosque (another book calls it the Qol Sharif Mosque). This mosque is a recent addition, only finished in 2005 (on the date when Kazan celebrated its 1000th anniversary). The mosque is beautiful from all angles, and when we came upon it unexpectedly I would be momentarily stunned.
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- The Qol Sharif Mosque. What else can I say? It’s stunning.
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- Detail of the Kul Sharif Mosque. This is above the front entrance.
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- The lobby/waiting area. We were asked to put plastic booties over our shoes before entering this area.
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- In the “lobby” (entrance?) of the mosque. This man was chanting from the quran. (Chanting seems a better word than reading.) I thought at first that they must always have someone in this station, but when we were leaving there was no one there. The chanting was recorded.
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- Detail of a wall inside the mosque.
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- A stained glass window in the stairwell leading to the viewing platform.
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- On the viewing platform, looking at the ceiling.
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- From the tourist viewing platform. The man on the floor was praying, and had a small boy with him. The boy played quietly while the man prayed.
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- The ceiling.
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- Detail of the ceiling.
Churches of Kazan
There are (unsurprisingly) a multitude of churches in Kazan. Here are just a sampling.
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- The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Cathedral, at night. This was another of the sights we saw shortly after arrival that introduced us beautifully to Kazan.
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- The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Cathedral. I did not take a great picture of the entire church, but this side shot gives an idea. There were two chapels in this church; one upstairs and one down, one presumably for St Peter and the other for St Paul. I liked the lower chapel best, and so most of my pictures are from that one.
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- Inside the St Peter and St Paul cathedral.
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- Inside the St Peter and St Paul cathedral.
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- Inside the St Peter and St Paul church.
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- Inside the St Peter and St Paul cathedral.
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- Inside the St Peter and St Paul cathedral.
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- Inside the St Peter and St Paul cathedral.
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- The Cathedral of Annunciation. This lovely church was in the Kremlin, near the Kul Sharif Mosque. It was very beautiful, but for some reason I did not want to take pictures inside. (After this church, I started asking if I could and was always told yes. But for the first church I did not want to take pictures.)
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- Detail of some of the Cathedral of Annunciation domes.
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- This was another one I had trouble identifying. It was a church in ruins, locked up but lovely in the evening light. There was a hole in the front where the bell appeared to have been removed.
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- Close-up of the unknown church gate.
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- Which church is this? I think it’s the Kazan Bogoroditsky Nunnery Monastery (казань богородицкий). The church was stunning inside, but what I will probably remember best is the bread shop outside the church (but inside the gates) where a variety of breads and pastries were sold. The woman who worked there was SO friendly–she kept giving us bread to try, and kvas–that we bought more than we’d initially intended and sat and chatted with her for a while. There was also a tour guide waiting for her group to finish visiting the church who tried to help translate some of the bread types into English for us. (We saw her again later at the Kul Sharif Mosque–I think she may be in my picture of the lobby.)
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- Inside the Bogoroditsky church again.
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- Inside the Bogoroditsky church.
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- The last church that we visited in Kazan; this is the Church of Paraskeva (I think).
Buildings and Architecture of Kazan
This is a hard category of photographs for me to post on, because I took so many pictures of beautiful buildings in Kazan. Many of them I cannot identify. But I did my best here.
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- Throughout Kazan, there are buildings with intricate and beautiful decorations. What’s the right word for this? I have no idea. But I enjoyed seeing them.
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- The entrance to the Kazan Kremlin complex. (Alliteration!) Entry is free; inside there are churches, the beautiful mosque that is featured in other photos, museums, and other governmental buildings.
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- A building we walked by many times. It glowed in the afternoon sunlight.
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- This was some sort of religious board for Muslims in Tatarstan. (According to a sign on the building.)
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- Look at this? Isn’t it grand?
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- We called this “the ugliest building in Kazan.” It was extremely Soviet, and stood out like a sore thumb.
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- We stumbled on this one by accident almost, but I’m so glad we did. It’s HUGE, and is apparently the Ministry of Agriculture building. Right? More info (and professional photos) here: http://www.boredpanda.com/ministry-agriculture-building-metal-tree-kazan-tatarstan-russia-antica/
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- I can’t believe this is the ministry of agriculture building. Can you see the tree? Just a little?
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- The tree. I can’t get over the tree.
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- “Close up” of the roof. (The building was huge; this was the best I could do with my little camera.)
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- Buildings in the Old Tatar Settlement area.
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- More buildings in the Old Tatar Settlement area.
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- Another old Tatar Settlement building, glowing.
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- This was I believe a museum for literature. We didn’t go in.
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- In the Kremlin. This was a museum.
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- Windows in the Old Tatar Settlement.
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- The Bell Tower of the Bogoyavlesky Cathedral. Somehow I didn’t even realize this was a church, and so am not going to move it to the other gallery.
Just a Few More
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- Black Lake Park
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- A fountain at Black Lake Park (I think).
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- Beautiful graffiti/mural.
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- The fountain, from a distance.
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- The Monument to Mussa Jalil, at night.
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- Doors.
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- Panoramic of the promenade we walked along.
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- Nizhny Kaban Lake and promenade. The lake was very active, with many people rowing and racing.
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- Statue in the Kremlin of some important men, I’m sure, but I’ve last track of who they are.
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- Detail of the gate in the Kremlin that leads to the Presidential Palace. (The president of Tatarstand it appointed by the President of Russia. Apparently Tatarstand used to elect their own government, but that prodedure ended a few years back.
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- The Presidential Palace (and gate) from a bit further back.
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- The monument to Mussa Jalil, at night. Mussa Jalil was a Tatar writer and poet who joined the army at the beginning of WWII. He was wounded and captured, but while in a concentration camp organized an underground movement that helped other prisoners escape. For this he was executed by guillotine in Berlin.
Edited to add: Steve talks about Kazan in two posts:
