About Kazan

KAZAN - City of Thousand Opportunities

Kazan has a thousand-year-old history. It is one of the most ancient Russian cities with the unique cultural and historical heritage, preserving the archaeological, architectural and cultural monuments of the ancient Bulgarian, Golden Horde, Khan, Russian and Soviet periods.

The historical symbol of Kazan is a mythical dragon called Zilant. According to the legend, this giant dragon-like serpent from ancient times has been guarding the khan's treasures. To this day, he guards the hidden riches of the ancient city in deep secret caves.

From the XV century, after the collapse of the Golden Horde and until the conquest of the city by Ivan the Terrible, Kazan was the capital of the Kazan Khanate. At this time, crafts, jewelry and weapon art were actively developing here, thanks to which the city’s trade relations with Moscow, the Crimea, Turkey and other regions were actively strengthened. From the times of the Kazan Khanate, the Russian state, the USSR, and up to this day, Kazan is one of the largest cultural centers of Russia, preserving the classical achievements of the ancestors, as well as contributing to the development of modern, avant-garde trends in many areas of culture.

Annually, international festivals of opera, ballet, classical music and folk-rock music are held in Kazan: “Shalyapinsky”, “Nurievsky”, “Rachmaninovsky”, “Kazan Autumn” and “The Creation of the World”. The "Aksyonov-fest" and the Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema "Golden Minbar" are also held here.

The city has many museums, public and private galleries. The largest is the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, founded in 1894. The most valuable natural science, archaeological, ethnographic and many other expositions are located in the main building of the museum - the former Gostiny Dvor. A branch of the State Hermitage Museum, the Hermitage-Kazan Center, operates in Kazan.

Also among the most popular museums of the city are the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Museum of Kazan and many other cultural institutions. The property and attractions of the city are its historical buildings, including numerous religious buildings, the main of which are the Kazan Kremlin, the Kul Sharif Mosque, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Kazan Mother of God Monastery in the Holy Cross Church which contains the venerable list of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, as well as unique historical and architectural complexes Zilanteva monastery.

Among the modern architectural sights of Kazan are the pedestrian Petersburg and Bauman streets, the Kazan metro, the “Millennium” bridge, the “Pyramid” cultural and entertainment complex, the “Millennium” and “Kyrlay” parks, the “Riviera” Hotel and its aqua park, and residential complex "Palace Embankment" on the Palace Square.

The first skyscraper in the city with the height of more than 100 meters will be the residential complex "Azure skies".

The city has 44 higher education institutions. The largest universities of the city are Privolzhsky Federal University, Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev (KNITU-KAI), Kazan National Research Technological University (KNITU-KKhTI) and Kazan State Energy University.

Economy and innovations in Kazan are represented by Russia's largest IT park, as well as one of Europe’s largest technopark “Idea”. Here are the headquarters of the six companies in the TOP-500 largest enterprises in Russia in terms of revenue. The industrial profile of Kazan is determined by the fuel and petrochemical industries, large machine-building enterprises producing competitive products, as well as developed electrical and radio equipment in the Republic of Tatarstan. Among the largest enterprises of Kazan, we can highlight the large-scale chemical complex Kazanorgsintez, the oldest Kazan powder factory and the unique cluster of three aircraft industry enterprises in Russia — the “KAPO” aircraft manufacturing plants (the manufacturer of the world's largest strategic bomber Tu-160), “KVZ” the helicopter manufacturing and “KMPO” - the engine manufacturing.

Also, the image of Kazan is inextricably linked with a sports theme. The capital of Tatarstan cordially accepts the largest international and Russian competitions: Kazan received the right to host the XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013, is the capital of the 2015 World Aquatics Championship and one of the venues for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In 2009 Kazan was awarded the title of the third capital of Russia. For the development of sports there are stadiums "Central", "Basket-Hall", "Tatneft-Arena", "Tennis Academy", "Field Hockey Center", " Volleyball Center", "Martial Arts Palace" Ak Bars ", Rowing canal on Lake Sredniy Kaban. Kazan hippodrome is one of the largest in Europe and the largest in Russia. Kazan sports facilities are able to host top-level international competitions.

To be sure, a significant part of the competitive advantages of Kazan, as a business and cultural center, is due to the peculiarities of the historical development of the city and the long-standing stable cultural and economic ties. At the moment it is a modern and developing city that cares about preserving its historical heritage. There are all conditions for economic activity, spiritual and physical development of the population in Kazan.