About Kazan

Kazan (Russian: Каза́нь; Tatar Cyrillic: Казан, Latin:Qazan) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. It is a major industrial, commercial and cultural center and remains the most important cultural center of the Tatar culture. With a population of 1,143,535, it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. Kazan is located 793 Km east of Moscow. Kazan is a place where the East meets West.

The origin of name Kazan is unclear. The literal translation of the word Qazan is «Boiler or Cauldron» . It is believed that the city of Kazan is named after this object and its geographical similarity with «Qazan-pan» ; namely the city is situated in U-shaped low land. The way from the capital of Russia, Moscow to Kazan takes 1 hour 20 minutes by plane and around 10 hours by train. People of different nationalities live in Kazan. Major religions in Kazan are Sunni Islam and Eastern Orthodoxy. You can hear speech of more than 100 different nationalities in Kazan. The official languages are Tatar and Russian.

Kazan was founded in 1005. Despite of such venerable age, the city is growing and dynamically developing in all aspects. Since April 2009, Kazan has been granted the legal right to brand itself as the third capital of Russia. In 2004, Kazan was named the best city of Russia and became the winner of Russian public award «Russian National Olympus». With a rich history and culture, it is a host to number of monuments. The Kazan Kremlin (citadel) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 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. Other structures of interest are: the towers and walls erected in the 16th and 17th centuries but later reconstructed; the Qol-Sharif mosque, which is already rebuilt inside the citadel; remains of the Saviour Monastery with the Spasskaya Tower; and the Governor’s House (1843-53, now the Palace of the President of Tatarstan.

Kazan is a significant educational and cultural center of Russia.Kazan has traditionally been a university city and only Moscow and Saint Petersburg have more students. With 44 institutes of higher education, around 25 colleges including colleges for special training , 178 schools and over 50 schools for learning music, choreography, fine arts to name a few. Among them there is the Kazan Federal University founded in 1804 with the faculty composed of and including the world renowned scientist. Kazan offers education for every taste. There are lots of museums, libraries, concert halls, theaters in this city. Two renowned international festivals: the opera festival named after F.I. Shalyapin and the classical ballet festival named after R. Nuriev have been regularly held for a period of many years. 

In 2009, Kazan was chosen as «Sports Capital of Russia» and it is still referred to as such. Apart from being a home for Ice-Hockey Team «Ak Bars Kazan», it has a football team by the name of «Rubin Kazan». Few notable international events hosted by Kazan include — 2013 Summer Universiade, World Fencing Championships (2014), European Weightlifting Championships (2011 ), Bandy World Championship for men (2005 & 2011). Kazan is the host city for 2015 World Aquatics Championships, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Kazan is a city of Peace and Calm. The people of Kazan are noted for their affability, hospitality and religious tolerance. The best example of this is a Mosque and a Church standing next to each other in the Kazan Kremlin. Another example is temple of all religions.Kazan is one of the largest industrial and financial centers of Russia, and a leading city of the Volga economic region in construction and accumulated investment. The main industries of the city are: mechanical engineering, chemical, petrochemical, light and food industries. An innovative economy is represented by the largest IT-park in Russia which is one of the largest of its kind among Eastern Europe science parks.

Kazan is connected by buses, railways, river port and an international airport. The public transport system is extensively developed and is used by large number of people for daily commuting. It consists of buses, trolleybuses, trams and metro(subways).

Kazan has a humid continental climate with long cold winters and warm, often hot dry summers. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near 20.2 °C (68.4 °F), and the coldest month is January, with a daily mean of −10.4 °C (13.3 °F).